Personal Demons
by Steamrollers Solve All
Summary: Discontinued due to lack of interest. Sorry.
1. Ten Years Later

A/N: Okay… my first sequel story… and biggest gamble (Considering that the entire Alcemian part is based off a story I'm hoping to publish) First of all, I suggest all of you out there reading this and interested to read Paths of Darkness, so you'll know what half the stuff I'm writing means. For those of you that don't, you'll be horribly confused from the start. I don't own Darkstalkers or Street Fighter, but the concept of Alcemia and everyone in it are mine.

"So what's on the menu for tonight?" asked a teenage girl with short violet hair. Her eye color was similar, and she was wearing a white blouse and red jeans, and was talking with her "sister" over a few drinks at a local bar.

"Don't know, Lillith," answered a similarly dressed Morrigan Aensland. How long had they been doing this, splitting in half in that way they figured out after the whole Kirin incident and using the ultimate two-pronged acts of seduction with both Gen and Chi, ten years? That sounded right. It had started out just plain great, but even the most celibate priests in the world couldn't handle two succubae that were completely coordinated. It was quickly losing its fun and challenge. The physically older of the two sighed as she finished her drink at the mortal bar as her eyes drifted up to the television. Something caused her to look extremely intently.

"Something wrong?" Lillith asked as she noticed a news story was being played. A video camera was playing a scene of a teenage boy, who was wearing a black t-shirt and long blue pants, hack his way through several security guards with a katana.

"Ah, you haven't heard about the mystery at Onio College?" asked the bartender, seeing that both of his female customers were intrigued by what they saw. "About a year and a half ago, there was a murder there and these two teenagers, Simon Tyer and Brian Lernan were found guilty. It probably wasn't them, considering that the big man on campus's dad was the judge there and pretty much called the shots there. What I don't get is why a kid that's not even Japanese would use a katana! And it's about time those dumbasses actually let the authorities get the full story and show the video records!" He turned up the volume on the television, after all, it couldn't hurt business to have those two stick around and pick up on the full story and buy a few more drinks too.

"The day of the execution," the reporter explained on the television, "a strange person broke the two out of the prison, although there was no escape path. They literally vanished into thin air." The video shifted over to a scene of a black-garbed woman with a red ponytail killing off the guards in the cell with what looked to be black blades attached to her wrists. "Three weeks later, however, Simon Tyer returned to the prison in the same place he disappeared, only to hack his way through a number of authorities with what appeared to be a hand grenade." Another video was shown of the blonde-haired teenager, apparently this "Simon", being held at gunpoint in the cell as he raised his hands. Five seconds later, what looked to be a ball of fire shot from his raised hand, blasting apart the gunmen. "After two days of hiding, Simon Tyer confronted the Judge Thayro, who is only now telling his story."

A clip from an interview with a slightly muscular and aged man, Thayro, was shown. "He said he'd kill me if I told them he was heading back. But now… it doesn't really matter."

The television went back to the reporter. "Mr. Thayro has been under severe stress for nineteen months now, and it is obvious he has cracked from it. Although some fanatics claim he was making agreements with humans not of this world." The television showed a still photograph of Simon holding Thayro up close, the katana Tyer had at the judge's throat.

Lillith turned to her other half again only to see the stool was vacant. The queen of Makai was standing near the door. "Time to go, Lillith. I figured out what's our next stop."

"What is it?" Lillith asked as she ran to the door, exited with Morrigan, and followed her to an alley to transform in. "The way you looked at that Tyer guy, I thought you saw a ghost! Do you know him?"

"No," Morrigan said as her outfit morphed into a gray suit and Lillith's changed to a similar, albeit red, one. "But his sword is one I've seen before. Two hundred years ago, _easy_." Lillith's confused look told Morrigan she needed to explain further. "It's the Saber of Ectratin, the same sword that the Alcemian, Balteria Ciercin, Kirin's old nemesis, used when he came to Makai."

"Coincidence?" Lillith asked, "I'm sure there's at least one sword on Earth that looks like it." She flew up into the night sky, above the clouds, following Morrigan's lead as they headed west, towards the Midwest of the United States.

"That's certainly possible, but think about the woman we saw on the video. Ten years ago? Obsidian blades generated from her skin?" Morrigan's questions had been the hints that Lillith needed.

"You mean… Owikamki?" Lillith asked. Although she held no grudge against that Darkinarki, it was surprising that once again, she found her path crossed that of the girl with the black soul. "But what's she got to do with two college students that vanished?"

Morrigan sighed as they shot through the moonlit night. "I have no idea. But I'm sure that if we're lucky… we might just find a path to her planet. A change of scenery would be nice... possibly very nice."

* * *

_Where am I?_ Thought Simon Tyer as he looked around his surroundings. _More importantly…_ _who_- but a quick look in a mirror shot a good number of memories through his head. _Okay… I remember who I am…_ Except he couldn't remember why he was sporting a single blue lock of hair. But who he was, how most of his life had played out, he remembered much of it. His best friend Brian, who had helped him get through thick and thin. Miki, who'd been the hardass in his life and had saved his life on countless occasions. And then there was Blade and the rest…

He took in his surroundings. Okay… he was in a decrepit bathroom, and he had two swords around his waist, and that brought up another couple of blanks in his memory. The first he checked was the one on his left, which looked to be a katana… not bad. And the other was… a wooden short-sword? _But Blade…_ he thought as he exited the bathroom. _She made it so _powerful… _dammit! I wish I could recall more! _He instantly recognized the burgundy-hued bracer on his left arm, that was easy. _Gift of Chaos bracer…_

Chaos… that single word brought back even more memories as he climbed up the stairs to the nightlit rooftops and recognized the sky as that of Earth, not Alcemia. He was… a Champion of Chaos… a person to steer Chaos when its power waned too much… someone that had performed an unparalleled act for Chaos's good so Balance could be restored. And Brian was one too! Brian'd became one when Simon got killed along with Miki, and Blade and Brian had brought them back with an old alchemy relic! Good old Alcemia, where they had been lucky enough to reverse death on three separate occasions.

_And Blade…_ he chuckled as he looked down at his right hand, with a small ring made of a blue crystal on his index finder. _Simon Tyer, legendary Champion of Chaos_, he thought as he rubbed his temples, trying to recall _why_ he was standing in a amnesiactric daze on Earth, _in love with the new Goddess of Order… but crazier things have happened. Like Flare and Miki… or Brian going Cleric to help them rebuild. Or even Arc, Mr. "Holier than You" admitting Chaos was needed… _He remembered so much… but there were still empty points.

The landscape seemed familiar enough for him. It was Onio all right. How long had he been out? Who knew? More importantly, why was he back on Earth? Some freak accident with an Inter-Spacial Matter Transporter? That _could _be it, but why would he hop in one in the first place? His life had been Hell here, and even with that dying occasion on Alcemia, his life on that planet had been better off. It certainly was a change from being a college student… actually able to trust people, being someone to restore Balance by taking out the corrupt heads of the Lightbringers organizations, but he'd found friends and even someone he loved.

_All right, paranoid-man…_ he thought as he lied down on the rooftop, _do something smart. Wait this out and see what happens or if I'll remember why I have that blue streak in my hair. It seems natural… the hair, at least…

* * *

_

"So why is Interpol interested in this whole mystery, miss?" asked the coroner as he lead a Chinese woman down a morgue hallway.

"The video I saw on the news caught my attention, that's all," said the woman in decent English. She kept the fact she'd seen energy blasts like that before to herself. _I didn't see him at the last Street Fighter tournament with Gill… and that fireball thing looked a bit to much like it stemmed Psycho power…_ thought the woman as she took out a notebook and a pen. "If it's okay with you, I'd like to take a look at the body myself."

"No problem. She's ice-cold, which is awfully confusing too. No matter how hot the cremation machine got turned up, she wouldn't burn at all. Wouldn't even increase in temperature. Eventually we decided to keep her here for students interested in medicine. She's completely sterile, so don't worry about viruses or anything," the coroner nodded his head in a polite manner and headed back to his office as the woman pulled open a container marked "Emily Senin Tyer."

The Chinese detective looked at the body as if it was extremely bizarre. The dead woman had blue hair and skin, and that wasn't from being kept so cold. _Emily Tyer…_ she wrote in the notebook, _married to a Zen Tyer, no social security number, nothing. No identifications whatsoever… had a single son with this so-called Zen Tyer. Committed suicide five minutes after Simon was born… "For my son" were her last words. Simon devotes himself to studies while his father constantly blames him for Emily's death and the young kid gets into college at the age of fifteen._

This is where the story had a twist. It seemed that as much as Zen blamed Simon, he _needed_ someone to put the blame on. When Simon moved out, Zen killed himself as well. Simon found friendship in another orphan named Brian Lernan, who was the voice of reason to the often paranoid Simon. Until, of course, almost two years ago when they literally vanished.

_This is about as much information I can get here,_ thought detective Chun Li as she slid the blue body back inside it's slot and exited for the actual jail where the two had been held.

* * *

The unlit surroundings of a now nineteen year old Miki Owikamki were set off by dozens of red laser points, aimed at different parts of her body. She wasn't sure if she could get back into the swing of things so easily… but the Darkinarki was confident she'd remember quickly. Suddenly, bullets were fired across the lasers' paths, and it was time to get down to business.

Miki called upon her black hole manipulative powers and bent the lasers away from her, and also slowed down her perception of time so the bullets shot at a speed of a paper airplane. As each bullet reached the vertex of the angles the lasers formed, she deftly flicked each bullet so their flight path was akin to the lasers. As the last bullet slammed into a pre-placed bullseye, the lights flicked on inside the warehouse.

"You missed one," said a black haired man nearing twenty as he pointed to a single, marginally off-place impact. Aside for his slightly red eyes and a pair of vampire-like fangs, the young King of Aniar was essentially a human, courtesy of the Subtle Edge's effects.

"Flare," Miki said as she checked the path, realizing she had indeed bungled one bullet. "One's not going to kill me." She shrugged and kissed him on the cheek. "Besides, isn't the Severed Swordsman Tournament going to come around again in a week or two?"

"Meek," Flare said as he looked her in the eyes, using the not-so creative nickname he had cooked up during the one before the previous tournament, "You're ranked number five in terms of Alcemia's strongest, and the four people ahead of you are practically tied for first. And besides, you haven't been putting yourself through this tough a regime in over a _year._ Something's up."

Miki nodded and led Flare outside as they looked over the snowy landscape of Aniar. "It's been something I kept out of my mind for a while, especially during that whole conflict. The last thing we needed was a strategist so preoccupied about the future that she couldn't focus on the present." She looked over to Flare as they both sat on the edge of the simple castle. "So how's Blaze doing?"

"Oh, Dad?" Flare asked, "He's enjoying retirement. Last I checked, he was out on a fishing ship up north, drinking all the icewater he can and laughing at the Aniar curse."

"That you guys are pretty decent fighters, but are oftentimes stuck having to lead a city in the middle of nowhere?" Miki asked. "I have to admit, that is pretty bad. But at least you did get out a couple of times. And would've won the tournament that one time if there hadn't been that assassination."

"Only because you decided to help get me up to reasonable standards," Flare said as he put his arm around the girl he loved. "And then that opened a whole new can of worms between you and me. But seriously, what's Dad got to do with you training again?"

Miki sighed as she slowly recalled her entire journey through Makai, hearing about Kirin nine years before facing off against her again and actually dying for a second time. "Just something I read in Balteria's journal a long time ago. Something about me and Blade and the rest of the Travelling Sword-Mages…"

She recounted her first actual series of fights and her "Makai Adventure", the wins, the losses, practically getting killed by Lillith if not for Morrigan's timely intervention, and finally the journal of Balteria Ciercin and the prophecy that in ten years she'd return, only to be a piece of deadweight.

Flare sat there, looking at the sunset and soaking in Miki's entire story in silence. "And that's the end of it," Miki concluded as she put her head on Flare's shoulder, hoping to hear some assortment of comforting words. Instead she heard him burst into restrained laughter. "FLARE!" She yelled out, realizing she might have to go back on her vow of not beating him to a pulp, which was something she was capable of, albeit with some trouble. She _had_ trained him too.

"I can't believe you're worried about this!" Flare said in between his laughs as he tried to straighten up. "I mean… look at you! You've managed to keep up with four of the most powerful beings in Alcemia: a goddess, two Champions of Chaos, and the Supreme Arch-Paladin, through just training and experiences throughout your life. Simon and Brian are just plain the strongest people on Alcemia, Arc's got a giant broadsword and that Tempered Soul thing, and Blade at her best could just_will _someone to death! If Akura and Kalazi and the rest of the Commandos were alive today, they'd have to retire because you could handle their entire workload." He was worried that mentioning Miki's fellow Darkinarki would bring up a number of bad memories, dating back more than two and a half years ago.

In fact, Miki did recall that horrible event of three years ago, reclaiming one of the swords that Simon used, the Saber of Ectratin, from the Clerics when Chaos/Order relationships didn't even exist. But they had died for a good reason, and that alone helped her with the pain. "Flare, I think you're in danger of becoming a politician, but you're right." She stood up and then helped him stand as well. "I'm still going to be training."

"It wouldn't be a tournament if you didn't squeeze in extra training," Flare said as he walked back into the warehouse and unsheathed his family heirloom: a black long knife known as theSubtle Edge. "Now what should be first on your training regime?"

"Sparring sounds fine." Miki smiled, wondering just what it was about the Severed Swordsman tournament that brought them together. She charged, wrist blades already formed, striking down as Flare matched her smile and blocked it.

* * *

"Miss…I…uh…" stuttered a security guard as Morrigan and Lillith both gave him a succubus's equivalent of the innocent puppy dog eyes, except it wasn't too innocent. "You can't go in there!"

"Won't you please? We won't be a problem," Morrigan cooed as she hugged him. "We just want to take a look, that's all."

After even more stuttering, Morrigan and Lillith gave up on the hope he'd focus enough to say something along the lines of "go ahead" and just knocked him out. As they opened the door, they finally found what Thayro had put under top secret protection.

"It's rather… bland," Morrigan said after she looked at it for a moment and also looked at a nearby computer terminal. "Inter-Spacial Matter Transporter… Kirin ever say anything about it?"

Lillith shook her head. "No. From what she said, the only way she figured out to travel between worlds was to die and then get reincarnated somewhere else. She did mention about four generals she had back on Alcemia, but they didn't have any powers like that." Before Lillith finished, Morrigan had already walked into the transporter.

"Well, are you going to come or not?" Morrigan said. "Might be good to see just if Kirin's still around or not."

Lillith looked down at the computer, realizing that it was already set for a planet called Alcemia and had listed a group of names. "Ectratin, Aniar, Niesek… Niesek! That was where Kirin said she'd be when she came back on Alcemia!"

"Niesek it is, then," Morrigan said as Lillith flipped a switch labeled activate and they both literally vanished without any flash of light or anything like that.

* * *

"Alright Simon. Where did you go?" asked a young woman as she looked around the Onio campus, hidden by the moonless night. She was wearing a white robe and letting her long light-brown hair down. Her actual robe was like that of a priest, albeit with a symbol on it that some would know as the Seal of Chaos on the shoulders. On her left wrist was a blue crystal bracelet in a spiral shape.

"He'll show up," said her partner. His outfit was similar, although it was a white jerkin with a black cross on the chest. His brown hair had always been cut short, and on _his_ left wrist was a yellow bracer with the chaos symbol on it. "I've known Simon long enough that he'll show himself soon enough. Incidentally, how'd he vanish in the first point?"

Blade shook her head. "Wasn't anything I did. I may be the Goddess of Order but," she pointed to her bracelet, "I broke most of this thing for a reason. It's just way too dangerous to leave on the physical world. Besides, why did you come along? Worried I can't win a fight without help?"

"Nothing of the sort," Brian said as he raised up his hand to quiet Blade. They stood in complete silence for a moment, listening for anything out of the ordinary. In a very slow manner, Brian called upon his Gen as a yellow handgun, crackling with electricity somehow, appeared in his right hand. He pointed behind him, and Blade nodded, turned around, started walking in the direction opposite of him, and produced from her robes a silver-hued staff with a red gem on the top and a sharp point on the other. _Too quiet for even an abandoned sidewalk,_ Brian thought as he looked around. No moonlight meant minimal shadows, but being a skilled gunner meant honing your eyes. _Look at what we have here,_ he thought as he spun around the corner, seeing something remotely human, and plugging it with three blasts from his so-called "Lightning Magnum."

The creature itself took the hits pretty badly and ended up getting smashed into a buildingside. But before Brian knew what had happened, the target was on him again, unfurling razor-sharp claws and slashing down. Brian reacted almost subconsciously to the attack, caught both wrists before they had even fallen an inch, and smashed his head into his opponent's. Except he wasn't expecting to bash into a collection of… teeth.

"I assume you're the associate of a Simon Tyer?" asked the stranger as he kicked Brian away and finally got a good look at him. The gunner saw he was pretty well built, but was sporting blue hair and had more than a passing resemblance to a werewolf. "You're lucky your shots weren't silver, or else I wouldn't have survived."

"A name, please," Brian stated. It wasn't a request as he reformed his handgun into the shape of a shotgun. "My magnum is the second-weakest in my arsenal. I assure you that the Lightning Scatter will blast your brains apart, despite its lack of silver." He looked around the corner. Where the hell was Blade? She should've gotten around by now!

"Jon Talbain or Gallon, take your pick," said the old acquaintance of Miki, "I saw a friend of mine on the video from here and wanted to see if she had come back. She said she would in ten years anyways."

The remark caused Brian to lower his firearm a bit. "You know Miki? From where?"

"You know her personally?" Gallon asked, lowering his guard about the same level as Brian had.

"Know her? Hell, I spent an entire year fighting alongside her just trying to set things right on Alcemia!" Brian looked around, wondering exactly where Blade was. _She's as good as -possible better in some cases than- I am,_ he thought, _and my bracer would light up like a Christmas tree if she slung those elemental attacks around._ "I guess introductions are in order…"

A/N: Next chapter, Morrigan and Lillith do a good deal of investigation as they find out just what had happened to Kirin roughly one year ago. Meanwhile, Simon is confronted by a doppelganger of the woman he loves, and on Makai, a ten-year-old corpse attains new life in Placement of Pieces.

P.S. I'd love to send a synopsis for the entire Alcemian storyline to anyone who gives me their e-mail address in a review. It's long, but it'll definitly help with understanding what's going on.


	2. Placement of Pieces

A/N: Yikes! I can't believe I misspelled "Personal" in the title! Gahh! Personal problems are one of the biggest aspects of this storyline! HOW COULD I MESS THAT UP! I don't own Darkstalkers or Street Fighter. I'm also putting in exactly how Kirin died for good in this chapter and don't worry, I'm not going to pull out another convenient plot device to bring her back to life… specifically. Her cohorts are still fair game but she's gone for good.

"I am honestly impressed a Champion of Chaos could be so young," said a teenage Kirin Enslade as she continued crushing a brown-garbed Brian Lernan with her foot, breaking every single bone in his body. The screams were brutal and pierced the otherwise quiet desert surroundings of Niesek. Kirin smiled as her foot pressed down even harder, and the screams became even more painful. "Does it pain you, Simon?" she asked to Simon Tyer, who was trapped and bound to a pillar at the moment. "Watching your best friend die _again? _Watching those you hold dear all die because they can't defeat an age-old enemy of your beloved Necromancers?"

Simon's face was in a brutal snarl as he tried to break his bindings. It was no good… going Full-Syken for two whole days wasn't such a smart idea… and he couldn't even help his best friend take down the Travelling Sword-Mage's newest enemy. Windedge, Gurn, Miki, Flare, and then all the way back almost a week ago… Blade getting shot through the neck… all dead. "Just kill me now Kirin," Simon said quietly. "If you're really that focused on not screwing this up, why don't you kill me?"

Kirin paused and smiled. "Because," she answered, "I made a single mistake against Balteria Ciercin, and it cost me _everything_." She smashed her hands into Brian's shoulders and knees, literally breaking them in one attack each. "And then nine years ago I came back… to a place Miki there was familiar with… but at least then I put several things in motion before I died. But now, Simon, what I want what makes you so strong. An… insurance policy, if you will." She kicked Brian once more in the side, causing him to fly countless yards away. "Combined with reclaiming… let's see… _all_ the Blades of Might with your and Brian's deaths… among other things, it's a foolproof plan. And just a few more moments until your Syken side comes back, too."

"Don't count the convenient plot device out yet," called a female voice from behind Kirin. The villain turned to see what appeared to be a slightly younger version of herself. The both had white robes, long hair (although Kirin's was blonde while the newcomer's hair was clearly light brown), and both were now effectively the most power beings known on Alcemia. Except in the younger girl's left hand was a blue stone about the size of a small bowling ball, but in the shape of two pyramids that were attached by the base. "After all… you know what this is."

"Blade!" shouted out Simon and the crippled Brian almost simultaneously. _But…_ Simon thought as the memories of not to long ago as a armor piercing, hyper-velocity bullet punctured her throat and killed her. _Did they really get the last Elementa?_

Kirin turned to face the fighter as Blade walked over to Brian's wrecked body. As she stood next to him, the stone glowed as Brian's body literally regenerated. "I see that the circle has been completed," Kirin said without worry as Brian got to his feet and reclaimed the Saber of Ectratin. "The Sage's Stone… one hundred percent control over Life and Death, correct? And since I used Simon here as a pawn so I could kill the God of Order… my my my, look's like somebody became a god on her own right. But you know I could just come back if you kill me with that stone's power."

"Not with what I'm thinking," said Blade as she suddenly vanished and reappeared behind Kirin, kicked her away, and ripped off one of the chains holding Simon prisoner. She kept her eyes on Kirin, knowing full well that a woman that was born a good two hundred and thirty years ago, coming back to life on at least two occasions, if what Miki had said was true, was still dangerous. "Simon, you've got a sword, right?"

Simon nodded as he grabbed his short wooden sword, almost feeling it was worthless against the Reincarnator. As he did, a single blue lock of hair replaced one of his normal short blond strands, meaning Kirin had blown her chance. He was back to full strength… except without a decent sword, he'd be less than unstoppable.

"Good," Blade said as Brian ran over to their side as Kirin stood there, waiting to see what would happen. The goddess snapped her fingers and smiled. "Slash through the pillar there, would you?" Simon complied, and was utterly shocked as the wooden blade cut through like a cleaver through hot butter. "How do you like it, Kirin? A sixth Blade of Might, which I'd call the Never-Dulled Rudius. My rationale is that if a wooden sword meant freedom from slavery for a gladiator, shouldn't a magic wooden sword mean freedom from the laws of man, nature, and even _legends_? What do you say, guys? It's about time we fix our track record."

The results were brutal. Kirin hadn't planned on a new Blade of Might, and that one sword made all the difference. And that damned stone undid any damage she landed as soon as she hit. The three literally butchered her, and even with all of her magical might, it paled in comparison to the combined power of two Champions of Chaos and the new Goddess of Order. Soon it was _she_ on the ground, bloody and with a ruined body. She'd have to wait a while until coming back; or take them down one at a time. But Blade's next action at long last eroded Kirin's eternal confidence she'd eventually come out on top.

"Brian, catch," Blade said as she tossed the stone over to the gunslinger. "Fire the Anti-Necro God Cannon thing through it. If I'm right, the stone will augment the blast and cut Kirin off entirely from the Necromantic stream."

Brian smiled as he smashed his foot down on Kirin's stomach, mimicking the action she had done only a few moments ago. He pointed his finger at her like a gun and placed the stone in front of it like a silencer. "How does it feel, Kirin? Being beaten by the people not even a twentieth of your age?" His index and middle fingers glowed white as he yelled out the name of the incantation Blade had mentioned a moment ago. "THIS IS FOR EVERYBODY YOU KILLED, BITCH!" A massive white cone erupted from the stone, literally obliterating the top of the woman's body. As the beam ended, the remains were already ice cold.

"The stone, Brian," Blade asked as she nodded as if talking to someone. _Don't worry Anita,_ she thought as she spoke to the Anita nine years ago when it seemed Kirin was unstoppable, _She's gone now._ As the goddess caught the stone, she snapped her fingers again. Slowly, but very surely, the corpses of a wind elemental, Flare, a cleric named Gurn, and Miki Owikamki stirred and stood up. "Pure control over Life and Death," Blade said as she broke the stone in her hand, ending up with only two small pieces left, "waaaayyyy too dangerous to keep on the physical realm." She looked at Simon and the rest and smiled. It was good that the gang was back again. "But maybe I could at least keep part." The remaining two pieces swirled down to her left wrist, forming a blue spiral bracelet. It was good to be alive again.

* * *

Morrigan and Lillith both blinked as the man finished his story. "That is what happened exactly one year ago," he said to the two casually dressed women. "That is why Kirin Enslade can never return. She was like a puppet who had its strings burned away into nothing."

Lillith breathed a very long sigh of relief as she and Morrigan began to walk away from the town. Sure, there were potential targets there, but Ectratin and Aniar weren't _too_ far away for two beings capable of flight and Miki deserved to see some old acquaintances again. "It's nice to know… she's never bothering us again," Lillith said as he white blouse morphed into her traditional red outfit and her wings erupted from her back.

"You were worried about it, weren't you?" Morrigan asked as she shot up into the red sky, finally getting a long-range view of this "Alcemia". "I must admit… I expected a planet where Chaos had two great fighters for its cause to be a bit more… destructive. Whatever the case, we can finally see those losers that don't know a good time when they look it in the face." She jetted off and was quickly followed by Lillith, and her thoughts drifted off to the so-called "Travelling Sword-Mages", the group that Miki had helped create almost two years ago.

Time and again, the group had faced off against legends of this world, be it a cleric that progressively gained strength as each cell of his body was killed off, a seer that knew and saw all (which included every detail of fights), and even _Kirin_ had failed against them. Even Jedah at his strongest and with mastery of Gen was unable to outright win against her. _Could it be…_ thought the succubus as the sight of a volcano came into view, _that those people are stronger than my father_ Morrigan shuddered at the thought.

A girl not even twenty, who had at the age of nine caught the attention of all of Makai, had fought against and successfully killed some of the most powerful beings on Alcemia. It was very likely that Miki's strength and speed had only increased marginally (she _did_ value skill over power), but her comrades in arms, bolstered due to status and magic, Blade Longfellow, Simon Tyer, and Brian Lernan, could take down most weaker demons like they were nothing

Best not to pick a fight with somebody like that if it were possible.

* * *

Blade had heard the scuffle and blasts from Brian's magnum, but she trusted him to hold his own. She, on the other hand, was staring at someone she had contacted a year ago when she'd had full power over Life and Death.

"And so we meet again, Blade Longfellow," said a now-teenage Anita, dressed in clothing similar to the outfit she had when she was younger. "I must admit, I wasn't expecting to see you again, considering you had simply contacted the me ten years ago, my time, just to let me know Kirin Enslade was finally vanquished, but it's good to see you."

Blade nodded in agreement, pointing around the other side of the building. "It's good to see you've grown up fine. Still, one of my friends, Brian Lernan, got into a scuffle on the other side of the block. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"

Anita closed her eyes for a moment, then answered. "It's fine. Gallon and Lernan are both talking now."

"I see you've got quite an assortment of abilities, although I'm jealous you mastered foresight when I couldn't," the former Oracle said, taking the opportunity to finish rounding the corner with Anita. Brian and the werewolf already talking about various things, but mainly how Miki had been trained, with Brian laughing at the anecdotes. "Where's Donovan? I'd expect he's still helping you out."

"He's on his own, searching a different part of the city. And yes, he helps me as much as I help him," Anita answered, "Although I'm surprised with the Chaos Champion's wardrobe selection. I thought you were fighting _against_ the Clerics on Alcemia."

"Just the guys that were getting too paranoid about Chaos," Blade answered, "It's a very long story, and that's not even counting that we're trying to find Simon right now."

"Ah, the other Champion of Chaos? The one that's wanted now all over here?" Anita once again focused, trying to sense his location. "He's around here, somewhere close. On a rooftop. But I suggest we find him and then explain what's going on again. The meeting of Alcemians and Darkstalkers means only one thing."

"Power struggle, right?" Brian asked, as he and the werewolf joined the two light-based women. "Come on! There's nothing to worry about! Balteria tied with Beliel Aensland two centuries ago, and Miki said she helped set things right and helped take down Kirin ten years ago! I'm sure there's nothing that's going to go wrong this time."

"It doesn't work like that," Anita answered. "When Balteria came, despite his best efforts, the existence of the Gift of Chaos slipped out. Thankfully, the existence of Gen didn't."

"But when Miki dropped in ten years ago," Gallon continued, knowing where this was going, "Not only to Gen come to the surface, but it caused a sort of -I don't know- disruption of power? Morrigan and Lillith aren't too dangerous, provided you don't pick a fight with them, but Owikamki's arrival opened up a massive can of worms concerning people trying to master Gen. Not to mention the Maximoffs are still angered that Demitri got killed off, due to an _Aniar_. They're not even vampires anymore, right?"

Blade looked around the rooftops, only answering after deciding that although Simon wasn't close, they still had to find him and actually figure out what had brought him back to Earth.

* * *

"Simon," said a voice that shook the aforementioned teenager from his rest. He looked around, seeing Blade stand before him. He slowly got to his feet and sighed.

"It's good to see you. How'd you find me?" He looked around seeing if anyone else was around. They weren't. That automatically set off his paranoia, and he double-checked to see both his swords were in arm's reach.

"Oh, Simon, I'm just glad I found you," said the woman as she ran up and hugged him, her head resting on his shoulder as he stood there, dumbfounded. "I don't know what happened, but at least we're together again."

"It's… good to see you too, Blade," Simon said, slightly awkward in this situation. Was this just him being paranoid again, or was something really the matter? Before he knew it, he suddenly felt Blade bite down on his neck with two fangs and his body tensed up for a moment and his skin flashes blue for a split second. Simon quickly snapped out of it and kicked her away. He felt his neck. Thank god she didn't draw blood.

Blade looked quite different now. Her hair was a darker shade of brown, and her white robes were replaced by a black dress. Two vampire fangs, much larger than Flare's, were visible through her smile. "Tough blue skin," she said in a voice of malevolence, "Couldn't even get through it. But I'm betting with a little extra help I could." She charged, but that was a serious mistake for her.

Simon didn't recall everything that had happened in the past year, but all his fights and mistakes and lessons learned were still in his head. He sprang back, the Saber of Ectratin already in his right hand, and easily blocked the woman's first attack. Simon sidestepped the next punch with a casual motion and brought the sword to the woman's neck.

"A name, please," Simon said, hoping that something along those lines could help him figure out why he wasn't on Alcemia. When the woman stayed silent, Simon brought the sword closer to her neck. "Answer me, dammit!"

A bone-splitting kick smashed into Simon's head, knocking him forward and causing his sword to fall to the ground. As he turned around, he saw an oriental woman standing there in a combat stance and shooting a lethal stare at Simon.

"I know _your_ name, Simon Tyer," said the woman as she looked over to the person Simon had just held at swordpoint. "Ma'am, I strongly suggest you leave here. I don't want a hardened killer to use you as a hostage." The woman complied, leaving Simon Tyer alone with the Interpol officer.

As a strange blue fireball shot at Simon, the teenager calmly readied his other sword, the Rudius. To Chun Li's shock, the kikouken simply vanished when it neared the fighter.

"Only a coward fights from far away," Simon said as he readied his sword and charged, hoping to pick up the Saber.

"That coming from someone using a weapon?" Chun Li asked as she ducked a horizontal slash, feigned a sweep kick and used the opportunity to smash both her feet into Simon's jaw. As the swordsman was sent flying, countless thoughts were spinning through his head.

_What the Hell? I should have at least been able to react to that thing! I've taken down the toughest guys on Alcemia, so this shouldn't be a problem!_ Simon swung his feet down as he reached the edge of the building to stop his fall and looked at his opponent. She's older than me… maybe in her late thirties. Damn good fighter though… either that or…

Simon charged again, hoping that he wouldn't need to do that stupid chant thing to fire off his attack, but he quickly realized that once again he'd have to say the phrase once, and hopefully just once. As he sprang to the side, the blonde-haired young man tossed his wooden sword to his left hand and focused on giving his Gen physical form.

Chun Li quickly noticed a burgundy-hued stream of energy forming an orb in Simon's hand and prepared to counter. It was a fireball obviously, and her own projectile hadn't worked, which meant he'd toss this one, she'd dodge it, and beat the snot out of him up close while he recovered.

Simon paid no attention, although his paranoid mind was already playing the worst-case scenario in his mind. _That's it. No holding back with this!_ "Punk…_Red…_**VIOLET!**" The sphere was chucked much like a baseball and slow enough for the Chinese woman to sidestep and lunge forward with a lethal kick.

Except the fact it exploded like a hand grenade behind her, knocking her forward at an even more brutal speed, smashing Simon straight in the sternum and sending him flying at a speed normally only obtainable in a speeding bullet train.

As for Chun Li, the ensuing impact caused her to bounce off and land safely, albeit Simon vanished into the night. As she looked into the night sky, only one thing was in Chun Li's mind, and that was all the comparisons between his fighting style and Bison's. It made her blood boil thinking there was another person out there with similar abilities… AND the fact he was a blondie like that bastard Vega.

As she walked away, she noticed that the sword Simon had dropped was missing. Chun Li glanced around, noticing for a split second, she could've sworn she saw someone wearing a white robe almost like an arabic, but then he was gone.

* * *

"You saw that?" asked the real Blade as she looked over to Anita, who nodded.

"Yes, he's coming this way," Anita said as Brian ran ahead as Simon came into view. "Wait! We should-"

"I know Simon," said Brian as he stood in the way, causing his best friend to stop. His hands were around his sword hilts, however. "Simon… it's us! Calm down!"

Simon's gray eyes were focused as he looked at his friend. He had to be sure these people were the ones he'd fought alongside of. "There's only one person I never been able to beat in a perfectly even match. Who was it?"

Brian knew better than to argue with his friend when he was like this. He smirked and answered instantly. "Me. Perfectly even between us two means we both go bare-handed, which I must add you suck at compared to me."

Simon breathed a sigh of relief as he let his Rudius drop back into their sheathes. "Good to know," He looked over Brian's shoulders and saw Blade, Anita, and Gallon. "And those two?" As he pointed, he noticed his skin flashed blue for a split second. And then he was dreading what he was afraid.

His skin flashing blue when that woman tried to bite him? _Please… for the love of God…_ "Brian? Did you just see me when I'm in my Full-Syken form for a split second?"

Brian nodded, recalling just how helpful Simon's "second form" had been in battle, despite the fact that being the last of a weakling race should automatically condemn that form to be weaker than when he reverted and turned into a full human. He'd then have to spend the same amount of time he'd spent as a 100-percent Syken as a human before going back to his halfling state between the two races. "Yeah, like the way you did when you were first unlocking the Excel Drive's different points… oh crap."

Simon realized how bad this situation suddenly was. To sum up the long and complex situation Simon had been born into, he was quite literally the last of a race. His mother had belonged to a completely heat and fire immune race called the "Sykens", which was also significantly inferior to a human in most other regards. Emily, knowing very well when little Simon was born that he would need an extra boost to survive in this world, killed herself. Deep down, on a genetic level, Simon's Syken cells _knew_ he was the last of a race.

This is where the story got a little creepy. The Syken half of him, for all intensive purposes, refused to let him die. This led to a so-called "Excel Drive", in which case the Syken side of him actually bolstered his strength and speed depending on how many of seven emotions, more so focused on survival than the traditional "love and friendship" values, were fulfilled. When Simon had found out about the Drive when he first came to Alcemia, he easily fulfilled the requirements for all seven, and that Drive was partly responsible for his exponential rise in power.

Of course… he shouldn't have lost it. Under no circumstances could he possibly have lost it. Except he somehow had.

"So you're the new user of the Saber of Ectratin," said Anita as she looked at him. He looked nothing like she'd expected. From what Blade had told her, Simon was some sort of beacon of unity between Chaos and Order, not the paranoid teenager that had hard gray eyes. "Speaking of which…"

Simon sighed. "Lost it somewhere up there on the buildings while fighting some woman. Got pretty much slaughtered, even using the Variable Fireball. Lost the Saber, but at least I still have my other sword."

"You mean this?" said a voice as a body fell down from the buildings and landed. Miki would've recognized the man as a Donovan Baine, but her comrades needed to be introduced as Donovan handed the sword back to its owner.

"Where did you find it?" Simon asked as he sheathed it.

Donovan looked around for a moment before opening his mouth and started to say something, but stopped. "I'd prefer discussing it with Owikamki first. But I will tell you this: I think Anya has put you on her hit list."

"Anya?" Blade asked as she looked at Simon, hoping he hadn't run into the woman.

Gallon whistled in a depressed manner. "Great. Just great. We celebrate since Dimitri was cleaved in two thanks to the Subtle Edge and Dylek's combined powers and his cousin decides to be even more power hungry."

Anita nodded. "It may be smart for you three to stay here for a while. She's starting up a tournament that's fairly open and it might be smart for you to take the fight to her."

Oddly enough, Simon was the first to respond. "I'm in. I don't care what the case is, I'm entering and I'm going to win."

"Perfectionist?" Gallon asked, seeing Simon was become more enigmatic with each time the fighter opened up his mouth.

"More like someone with an inferiority complex," Brian said. "Every tournament he's been in, he's lost due to bad luck."

"Whatever the case," Blade said as she looked around again, hoping that this "Anya" wouldn't strike again, "staying here for the tournament sounds good. I'll send a message back to Enteria as soon as I can."

* * *

Enteria Ciercin groaned as he walked to the outskirts of the rebuilt Ectratin. He was really getting too old for this. _I don't believe it…_ he thought as he saw two very small blurs popping in and out of the massive forest to the north. They slowly got larger and larger until Miki and Flare landed with resounding thuds right next to him. "You could've just flown."

"But where's the fun in that?" Miki asked as she embraced the descendant of the legendary Necromantic hero. "So how's life treating you?"

Enteria sighed. "Good, but I got word that Blade and Brian have found Simon on Earth. But what's worse is this. I picked it up while doing research today." He tossed a skull to Flare and waved his hand. "I'll play you what it said."

"He has arisen again," spoke a deep voice from the skull, "ten years after his death against a dark villain. He will vow revenge against the Aniar name and all who hold it. Shadows that slayed him once before will fail and a new dark being must arise to vanquish him again." The skull finished it's story as both Miki and Flare stood there wondering just who would return.

"Dad…" Flare said eventually, "Good thing you told me. Meek, I think the gang might need to be rounded up again. Especially Brian. If it's who I think, I don't want to deal with somebody reincarnated over and over again."

* * *

On the sister planet of Earth, infested with demons and other creatures of the like, zombies were not uncommon. But usually they were their own class, and you usually wouldn't expect to see a zombie werewolf or zombie golem.

But in the Maximoff family catacombs, a ten-year-old corpse that was split in twain began to move as its lost soul returned to it. The massive cut caused by the combined might of two false-vampires slowly was undid, and Demitri Maximoff breathed again.

"Aniars and Aenslands," he finally said, "Two families I will personally see the end of."

A/N: Morrigan and Miki may not see eye to eye, but the two fighters know when to call a truce and work in the name of mutual interest. Unfortunately… there's only so many people on Earth the assassin can get along with, and one gunwoman still holds a harsh grudge in Stronger than Before.


	3. Stronger than Before

A/N: I don't own Darkstalkers, Street Fighter, or Star Trek, but as I keep telling you… Alcemia, its story, and its inhabitants are my creation.

"Leaving tomorrow sounds good?" Flare asked as he and Miki sat down in their guestroom in Ectratin. "I think we should get a good night's sleep and also stock up on mirror shards before we head to Makai."

"Tomorrow sounds fine," Miki said as she rubbed her eyes. "Think we should contact the others? Extra muscle would be nice, and Gurn _is_ only a hope, skip, and jump away now. Wind' and Arc could also be a pretty big help, but we don't even know where they are. On second thought, Gurn is a definite no-no," Miki continued, "If a few succubae get their eyes on him, it'll be the end of the world for him. Best to leave Mr. 'I'm Telling You, I' Celibate!' here, especially since he's a hopeless chick magnet."

"What about Arc and Windedge?"

"Like I said before, Don't know where Wind' is, and he got out of the fighting business after we took down…" her voice trailed off as she sighed. Flare put his arm around her in a comforting manner.

"I know it's hard. It was a shocker for me too." Flare left it at that. The outcome of the sixty-fifth Severed Swordsman tournament had not turned out well for her, possibly worse than it had for Simon. "But concerning Arc?"

"_Definitely_ not Cyko," Miki said with some confidence back in her voice. "That would be worse than bringing Gurn. Arc's the kind of person that would be a challenge for Morrigan and… speak of the devil," Miki growled as she looked out the window to see two figures she hoped would never come to Alcemia.

Flare flipped on the lights and opened the balcony, seeing the two female figures standing there. One had long green hair that matched the color of her eyes, a dark black article of clothing he had no idea what to call, and pale white skin. As for the other, her short hair and eyes were a violet color, she wore a red outfit, and her skin was a darker peach-hued color.

The older one looked at Flare for a moment, then her eyes fell down to the long knife sheathed at his waist. "You wouldn't happen to be Blaze Aniar's son, would you?" she asked as Miki joined her comrade. "Miki! Marrying into royalty! And to think I had given up hope on you!"

"Those two you mentioned?" Flare groaned as he started walking back into the room.

"Unfortunately, yes. Flare, I'd prefer it if I had a few moments alone to see what they're up to," the Darkinarki said, leaning against the wall in a casual manner as Flare walked away. "Now, what do you want here? I was just about to head back to your wonderful little world tomorrow, so you could've just waited." She looked over to Lillith, who was slightly more timid than her older "sister" did and smiled. "How're you doing? It looks like you're enjoying not having somebody pull your strings."

Lillith smiled happily. "Just glad to know you and your friends here finished Kirin off for good. Among other people too! That Guarno priest, those Elementa things, you really have had your work cut out for you last year."

"But as you your question," Morrigan answered, "What's wrong with paying a visit to somebody that helped save my kingdom?"

"You weren't invited," Miki said, noticing that the two had glided down onto the balcony. Morrigan took the opportunity to look over Miki a tad closer, and she smiled in an amused manner.

"Barely better than Lillith's," she said, pointing to Miki's chest. "But otherwise, you look impressive for what, a nineteen-year-old?"

"Twenty in two months," Miki corrected, slightly perturbed at Morrigan's remark. She let out another growl of frustration, flung the glass door to her room open, and pointed in. "You two are staying in this building tonight, and the only people you're going to entertain are yourselves. AND GET THOSE PERVERSE LOOKS OFF YOUR FACES!"

Lillith flinched at the last statement, knowing it was true, (they _were_ sex-demons, after all) and walked in past Miki. As Morrigan followed suit, Miki called over to Flare, who tossed her something.

"Here," she said, handing a small object to the succubus. "Imagination can't run wild when I can take the naïve route."

Morrigan picked up the object, realizing it was a deck of cards. "How thin are the walls?"

"Thin enough," Miki answered, "Now get out of here. We'll sort this out tomorrow."

* * *

"Hey," Simon said as he, Blade, Brian, Donovan, Gallon, and Anita reached the outskirts of the Onio campus, "Can we… stop here for a moment. I've got something I'd like to do."

Brian and Blade both looked over to the Makai part of their group, who in turn looked over at Anita. "It's okay. We're alone. It's the cemetery, correct? It's over that way." The girl pointed to her left, and Simon walked in that direction along with his best friend.

"Simon, you're not gonna… desecrate your dad's gravestone again, are you?" he asked. "As a Cleric, I have to advise you against something like that. Not that I'd stop you, considering your dad was a bastard, but seriously!"

"It's okay," Simon said as he worked his way through the dark night, finally reached two adjacent tombstones. One had been kicked over, cracked along the middle, with the name "Zen Tyer" chiseled onto it while the other was fairly undamaged with the name "Emily Senin Tyer" on it. He drew both his katana and rudius, slammed them into the ground, and knelt down. _Okay Mom and Dad, I know I'm far from the average kid you two wanted, and I still think you're a creep Zen. But still… I've found a girl I really care about and I'm gonna love her as much as you loved Emily, Dad. And Mom… I'll never forget what you did for me. Never_. Simon pulled up his swords up and looked around. Where was Brian? That Anita had said Anya or whatever her name wasn't here, so what the hell was going on?

Then he saw Brian was relieving himself near a tree. As Brian turned around, he shrugged. "What?"

Simon shook his head and started walking back. When the two friends got there, Blade was already trying to work something out with the others.

"I understand that, but introducing Simon to the Darkhunters is not a good idea!" she said, "I know that some people are going to think he's a demon or something, but really! It's gonna be better for him if as few people know he's here!"

"Except Anya won't stand for that," Anita said. "She's going to inform everybody on Makai in that tournament that -ah! Simon, you're here!- Simon is here, and it'll only be a matter of time until Earth finds out about it too."

"And what about that Chinese detective?" Donovan asked, "She'll tell her superiors and-"

"It's not the end of the world," Brian butted in, "Worst case, we'll just go back to Alcemia whenever the need arises."

"It's okay, Brian, Blade," Simon said, "Just hook me up with something along the lines of 'special diplomat to Alcemia' or something like that."

"But you killed people here!" Brian said.

"And if people want me dead, they'll go after me anyways," Simon said plainly. "Besides, it's the obvious thing to do, right, so Anya or anybody else out for me wouldn't expect it."

"You're quite the strategist," Gallon said, "Possibly as good as Brian said Miki is now."

Simon laughed, "Strategist? More like being very worst-case scenario. Anyways, I think it's about time we get out of this damned campus. I've got a lot of bad memories here."

* * *

_Why did I come back?_ Demitri Maximoff asked himself as he continued walking through the catacombs. The last thing he remembered was the release of that damned Lillith -or whatever Lillith had become- when those two false-vampires, Blaze Aniar and Donovan Baine, had combined the powers of their two swords to break through his failed Gift of Chaos.

Why _had_ he failed? It wasn't a hard ritual to pass… or was that just another lie that Lillith and Kirin had told him?

No. When he was… dead… he had seen things. Some would say it was Necromancy, but he didn't know. Whatever the case, he had seen what would happen and what had happened. Of course, some things had been distorted, changed.

He had watched the progression of Kirin's revival on Alcemia, only to finally be slain by the combined effort of that Owikamki girl's comrades. But that one… Blade Longfellow… he could not see her, or her fellow Oracles, directly. What was the explanation? Ah, two Foresights, if capable of contradicting each other, would _always_ contradict each other and cancel each other out. Of course, he had not checked in on what would happen now… in fact, he hadn't expected to be revived in some way.

As the vampire walked out of the catacombs, several inhabitants of his castle looked at him with a feeling of utter shock. "You think two half-breeds could kill what that accursed Beliel Aensland couldn't?" he asked in a frustrated manner as he walked past them. Apparently that was enough for them to go back to their regular lives.

As he walked by a group of newcomers to the castle, several thoughts swirled through his mind. _Lopsided-sex ration… and not the kind I preferred. Don't tell me…_ The vampire walked to the master bedroom, afraid of what he was about to see.

* * *

"I'll be back in a moment," Miki said as the two Aenslands (or one, depending on how you looked at it) and Flare got ready to head back to Earth. She quickly walked back down the hallway into a treasury, wondering if Simon had taken the sword with him.

No, it was there. A long, white, curved sword blade with a horizontal bar attached to two black right-triangle shaped pieces of metal for its hilt. She carefully slid it into its sheathe, careful not to touch the blade itself. _Damn you, Diaben… you and Yuagg and all the rest!_ Miki thought as she turned and walked back to Flare and the rest. Good, those two were still behaving themselves. Flare looked at the weapon in her hand for a moment, then nodded his head.

In a Star Trek-like moment, she flipped the switch and joined them, causing them to vanish in thin air and reappear on the rooftop of Morrigan's castle.

"What's with the sword?" Lillith asked, wondering why Miki would bring a sword when she really didn't need one.

The Darkinarki sighed and looked at the two succubae. Maybe bringing it wasn't such a good idea. "A reminder."

"Of what?" Morrigan asked, almost seeing sadness in the young woman's eyes.

"Bad times, you could say," Flare finished up. "But more on that later, if the need arises. Come on, Miki and I should try to find Simon and the rest. Not to mention why this Anya Maximoff would be hosting an Alcemian tournament."

* * *

There he was again! Chun Li had had enough of that Arabian guy following her, and she finally turned. "Understand that if you are trying to interfere with my arrest of Simon Tyer then you're aiding a wanted criminal!" she said into the night, hoping to see that man come forward.

Slowly, that white robed man she had seen earlier stepped out into eyesight, but not enough she could get a good look at him. He was completely garbed in white clothing, except for his face, although he had his robe's hood . She couldn't get a good look at his eyes.

"Who are you?" she asked again, getting into a stance that she could use to implement more powerful techniques if the need arose. The man merely bowed his head.

"Why do you wish to apprehend Simon Tyer?" he asked in a calm voice.

"He's killed plenty of people here and I'm not going to let Psycho Power come roaring back after Bison's death," the Chinese woman stated. "And I'm pretty sure that's what is going to happen if I just turn my back and let him do whatever."

The man chuckled. "You are very confident in your assumption, aren't you?" He turned and started to walk away.

"Hey, who are you?" the detective shouted out. He stopped and turned around.

"In one week's time, a tournament known as the Severed Swordsman will begin." He tossed her a floppy disc while continuing to speak. "This disc will provide you with information about a group known as the 'Darkhunters'. If you want your answers, search them out and enter the tournament. Bring the strongest allies you can, because you will find few new ones there." The man turned and continued to walk away again.

"But what's your name?" Chun Li shouted out. The man was almost out of earshot now, but he turned one last time.

"My name… is Leveda."

* * *

"It was self-defense, and I'm gonna stick to that!" Simon yelled out as a number of high-ranking Darkhunters listened to his explanations at Onio college roughly two years ago. "Seriously! They were gonna kill me! What was I supposed to do?" The tapes of him slashing, blasting, and generally being a one-man army was being played in front of him.

"It doesn't matter, does it?" Anita spoke up on his behalf, "He's an enemy of Anya, which makes him a friend to us. If anything, Donovan and I will keep an eye on them. Is there a problem with _that?_" She looked around at the people around her, who all shook their heads. "Good. And Simon," she handed him a small white card with his face on it, among other things. "You are hereby granted diplomatic immunity and also pardoned for every crime you have done here. Congratulations. You are now an honorary Darkhunter."

"Miss Anita?" asked a secretary from a hallway, "We have just received word that a friend of yours has come onto the base's territory."

"And what would this friend's name be?" Anita asked, already knowing whom it was.

"She claims her name is Miki Owi-"

"**_OWIKAMKI?_**" shouted a voice as both Champion of Chaos and Light Savior turned to see a girl four years older than them an in a red jumpsuit charge down the hallway.

"Maybe that wasn't the right thing to do…" Anita sighed as she held Simon back from aiding his friend.

"Why would that be?"

"Personal grudge."

* * *

"Great to see you, Gallon," Miki said as she hugged the first friendly person she had met on Makai, then shook hands with her two fellow fighters from Alcemia, "I see I'm back once again."

"And I can't wait to see how good you are," he said happily.

"Speaking of which," Brian said, noticing Miki and Flare were holding fairly large bags, "Non-combat clothes?"

"Of course," Flare said, tossing one of the bags to Blade, who pulled out a black robe, one of her more formal articles of clothing. "We took the opportunity to raid your wardrobes. Don't know how long we're going to be here."

"Well thanks," Blade said as she flipped through the rest of her bag. Inside were some shirts, pants, stuff so she wouldn't look like a cult member when she would walk down the street.

"Morrigan has happily offered us rooms in her castle, and I wasn't sure taking up the offer was too smart," Miki said as she sat down, rubbing her eyelids. "I think we should all take a vote on it and-"

"**_YOU!_**" came out a voice as Miki turned, seeing… it couldn't be! Blonde hair, guns, red outfit…

But it was. Bulleta "Baby Bonnie" Hood was all grown up, and with what looked to be… an "Ice Magnum"?

Nevertheless, the icy shards fired from the gun were blocked by Blade, now holding two silver rapiers in her hands. The look of fury on the girl's face had dissolved into one of shock and defeat.

"Friend of yours?" Blade asked, pointing both of the swords at the newcomer.

"Something like that," Miki said, noticing that Anita was running down the hall now.

"Bulleta!" she shouted, "Of all the nerve!"

"She ruined my life, dammit!" the girl said as she dropped to the ground, letting the blue guns vanish into thin air, "YOU RUINED MY LIFE! HOW MANY YEARS DID I WASTE, TRYING TO MAKES THESE DAMN GUNS WORK? SIX… SEVEN?" She was on the verge of crying, pointing to her prosthetic hands that she had to use even since Miki, ten years ago, had cut them off at the wrist. Tears began flowing from her eyes. "And in the meantime, people taking my title of best Darkhunter! Why won't you just die!" she pleaded, "Why does somebody back you up despite what a bitch you are! TELL ME!" She looked up, seeing that of all things, that damned creature was grinning!

"Wow," Miki said, with an impressed sound in her voice, "And here I thought you were broken for life." She put her hand down and ruffled the girl's hair. She looked down at the now sobbing girl and looked her straight in the eyes and smiled. "Damn good job." She stood up and started walking away.

"This isn't over between us!" Bulleta shouted, pointing at her nemesis.

"Did I ever say it was?"

* * *

"That was a cruel thing you did to Bulleta back there," Gallon said as he looked at the night sky along with the Darkinarki. "Shattering her ego…"

"Good riddance to it," Miki answered back. "Deflating people's egos is one of my best qualities. How do you think Simon got so good."

"Didn't you say that the Saber of Ectratin grants its user master swordsmanship?"

"True, but that's not all. When I met Simon, he was an underpowered, paranoid loser that I had to train for months before he was decent. Now… he's an overpowered, paranoid loser that I respect. Besides, I didn't expect her to come up with those gunnery moves like Brian has. Like I said before, she did a damn good job."

"What do you mean?"

"If I were in her predicament, I'd probably have given up on being an assassin. Wouldn't even be able to do a Singularity Fist to save my life. But look at her! From what you told me ten years ago, her career as a Darkhunter was all but over when she lost her hands… and now… she's obtained a bond with her new guns like some people have with swords. She can hate me all she wants. I'm still proud of her."

The werewolf looked at the Alcemian killing machine. She really had changed a bit, almost like a trainer in some ways. "I see you have a relationship with Blaze's son. How did that happen?"

"He needed help for the Severed Swordsman tournament and I offered to lend him a hand. One thing led to another and before you know it, I decide to stay with him in Aniar after everything is set straight. He's a good guy. Not as strong as the others, but still a good guy."

"I see the student has become the master," Talbain joked as he walked away.

* * *

"You have no right to do this!" Demitri snarled as he looked at Anya, who was wearing an arrogant look. "What gives you the right to determine the path of the Maximoff family?"

Anya smiled, "Because you were _dead_. How was I supposed to know you'd somehow return? Besides…" she raised her hand confidently as a black sphere of energy appeared in her hand. "Makai has gone through significant changes since your death, the biggest of which," she smiled, "is the implementation of Gen. You would have no idea how outdated your maneuvers are. I believe Miki Owikamki once said how big things happen in short amounts of time on Alcemia." She smiled. "Now big things happen on Makai in short amounts of time too. There's actually a new level of power here, meaning you're just an old relic, cousin."

Demitri growled in frustration as he assumed a combat stance. Anya just laughed.

"You haven't realized it yet?" she asked, "Have you tried to put out the amount of power you've used before? Can you even do it?"

Demitri snarled and charged, fist raised for a brutal punch, only to have his fist caught and then chopped in the neck.

"Good old Pyron didn't come back with you, meaning you lost a large chunk of power," Anya explained confidently. "But what's the point of fighting more?" A thought then came to her mind. "I'm starting up a tournament next week. If you win, I'll return authority of this household to you, Demitri. Deal?"

The vampire looked at Anya and grit his teeth. Apparently being brought back to life had come with a catch, but no matter. He pointed at his cousin and gave her a stern look. "I will take back this family, mark my words!"

* * *

_Must train harder!_ Thought the Japanese man as he continued practicing his techniques, Hadokens firing with barely any time in between them. _Oro said I'd have to train for another fifteen years to be able to fight him again, but I'm going to be ready in five!_ Ryu Hoshi continued his nearly inhuman training regime, hoping to vanquish not only the old man, but also finally defeat Gouki.

Gouki… the name echoed in his mind. He had killed his brother Gouken and had embraced the Satsu no Hadou, the Killing Intent… He wouldn't make Gouki's mistake. And he wouldn't lose again.

* * *

Free… the thought still lingered in Cammy White's head every day as she sat in her bedroom. She had taken a few weeks off of Delta Red to clear her head of some of the things that had gone on. Apparently, Vega was out there, trying to piece together Shadaloo again. She had taken the opportunity to call up the other women Bison had used as assassins, the "Dolls" as they were called. They were all doing fine and keeping eyes on each other.

She was worried about Vega, however. Word was that he was trying to build another of those "Psycho Drives" like Bison had used to increase his power exponentially. But she wasn't going to be a victim of it this time. No, she was going to stop him.

* * *

The fight still played through in Simon's mind every so often. Him in his Full-Syken form going head to head with Arc in his metal-like "Tempered Soul." Every time they had ever clashed, Simon had always pulled out the win through luck and teamwork. But this time was different for several reasons. First, the fact that they weren't using weapons, and second, what ended up happening.

Arc and he had locked arms in a shoving match, hoping to ring each other out of the arena, but to no avail. And then Arc had said he finally saw that Chaos was needed for Alcemia to survive. And then… the shock Simon had for hearing that. And after that… getting knocked out of the ring in his off-guard moment and losing the final round of the Sixty-fifth Severed Swordsman tournament to someone he had always beaten before.

Simon opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling of their room in Morrigan's castle. Thank god that floozy was keeping her word and not bothering them. He looked down at Blade, sleeping contently alongside him, her arms wrapped around his waist and face on his chest. Or at least, he thought she was asleep. She opened one of her eyes and looked at him.

"You worried about what's going to happen?" she asked in a sleepy manner. After a lot of thinking, Simon answered.

"Yeah."

"Good," Blade answered,"Didn't want to be the only one."

A/N: The Severed Swordsman tournament… infamous on Alcemia for its ever-revised rules and bitterly ironic concepts. As the so-called "Team Chaos" enters the rounds, both Miki and Lillith find themselves being plagued by enemies from ten years ago. And what's with that Leveda guy? And then there's Kirin Enslade, who strikes back from beyond her permanent grave in Beginning Ceremonies. Please Read and Review!


	4. Beginning Ceremonies

A/N: I don't own Darkstalkers or Streetfighter. And understand that any comments or questions would be welcomed as reviews. I look at other people who get like a billion reviews a chapter and I want that. Except not too many. I don't want my account to crash.

Also, I might as well give a list of Darkstalkers/Street Fighter characters I'm planning on using.

Darkstalkers: Everybody you've seen so far as well as Hsien-Ko. Not sure on Felicia. Street Fighter: Cammy, Chun Li, Ryu, Vega (The Pretty-boy Spaniard, not the Japanese Vega), Ken, Gouki (I refuse to call him Akuma), the Mad Gear Gang, the other Dolls, and Ibuki's ninja clan. Not sure on Guile, Sakura, Oro, or Sagat. Big no-no on Bison, Gill, Rose, or anybody that officially died.

"Fear and Trust…" Simon said out loud as he played around with a pair of dinner knives, calmly spinning them through his hands without flaw. Thank god he hadn't lost the Saber of Ectratin's power of complete mastery of knives or swords. Losing strength, speed, _and_ skill would've meant the end of him. Of course, he had only lost the strength and speed the Excel Drive would normally give him, but it was like losing an arm or something along those lines.

"That leaves Anger, Determination, Valor, Calm, and Resistance," Blade continued. She had no idea that Morrigan's castle was so _big_, and the dining room seemed bigger than some of the buildings in Ectratin. And the fact that she, Simon, Brian, Flare, Miki, and Lillith were the only people in it didn't help any. "Well, knowing you, it'll work out fine."

"Can't you just get angry and determined to fulfill the points?" Lillith asked, wondering exactly why this "Excel Drive" was so critical. Everybody in the group shook their heads.

"It won't work that way. It's not when Simon himself feels those emotions, it's when his Syken side feels it. And don't even ask me about that, since we really never understood much about it at all," Blade answered.

"Speaking of weird things about it…" Miki asked, "Simon, have you tried going Full-Syken?" She quickly looked over to Lillith, realizing another thing would have to be explained. "Essentially, when he feels all seven emotions at the same time, he turns into a complete Syken. Blue hair, blue skin, everything. Normally a Syken would be underpowered, but since he has in some ways twice the Syken cells…"

"He gets twice the power boost from them," Lillith realized. "Interesting concept. Any downsides?"

Simon looked over at Lillith for a moment, wondering what she was getting at, but sighed and answered. "Two. First, for whatever amount of time I spend as a Full-Syken, when I regress, it turn into a Full-Human for the same amount of time. That means no Excel Drive at all. And secondly, I normally get healed by fire, but turning into a Full-Syken makes me simply immune, so I can't heal myself." He hissed in pain as he cut open his thumb for a brief visual, then generated a small flame from his left hand and ran it over the cut. It was completely repaired. "Costs me a bit of Gen, but it's nothing to serious."

"It's complicated," Brian said as he stood up and cracked his neck, "but we've never really needed to know its ins and outs. Anyways, where is Morrigan? I'd like to know where our hostess is."

"Oh," Lillith said as she pointed upstairs. "In conference. We're going to see if we can get in on the sponsorship of the Severed Swordsman tournament so we can check on any shady dealings."

"Thanks," Flare remarked as he went to refill his drink, "But why really do it? I mean, the tournament bylaws clearly state any sponsor can't compete. Considering how strong you two are, it could be a help."

"Considering you guys spent a whole year doing nothing but fighting, Morrigan and I feel you deserve it more. Besides, we owe you something for taking down Kirin."

After a few hours of waiting, Morrigan staggered down the stairs, pulled out a seat, and collapsed on it. "Politics…" she yawned as she rubbed her eyelids. "Even with a little snuggling it's a nightmare-"

"You know, we're right here," Miki said as she called across the room.

"So sorry." Morrigan got back up and sauntered over and once again fell into a chair. After catching her breath, she smiled and looked up. "I have some good news and some bad news."

"And that would be…" Brian asked.

Morrigan smiled triumphantly. "I got a portion of the tournament funds to worry about, if you must know. Unfortunately…" her voice trailed off, "the best I could do even _with_ some… favors… was Lillith and I are going to be two of the referees."

"Good enough," Flare said. "In fact, that might be even better."

"How so?" Lillith asked.

"You'd watch all the fights. That means we'd know if any of the fighters were crooked," Miki explained. She then looked over to Morrigan, who handed Simon and Blade a card. "What's that?"

"Invitation to Anya's ceremonial ball," Blade read. "'Come with guests.' Sounds like us? If anything, we'll be able to rub elbows with treacherous bastards. Who knows? Maybe we'll go to a fight and a dance will break out."

"Guess so," Simon said, heading back up to their rooms. "I'll get our formal outfits."

"Hold mine and Flare's, will you?" Miki asked. "Considering I killed a Makai noble the last time I came here, I don't want to end up starting something."

* * *

"I'm sorry, it's just I never saw you in black before," Brian was practically cracking up five minutes later, looking at Blade and Simon standing there in loose black robes. "The Goddess of Order, practically an ambassador of Ectratin! It's priceless! I only wish I had a camera!"

That was enough of an irritant for Simon and Blade to draw their weapons and charge. Before anything serious could happen, however, a voice called out.

"Ah-hem?"

The three turned to see Miki and Flare standing there, wearing similar outfits. Miki had chosen a green trenchcoat, her traditional black combat shoes, and a matching green set of pants and shirt. Flare had chosen (after many pleadings) to wear a cloth jerkin rather than his usual and conspicuous black chain mail. At least he was also wearing a trenchcoat.

"We're heading out to register at the tournament headquarters. We'll probably see a few old faces, find out why an Alcemian tournament is being held here, the usual. Same registration as last time?"

Simon, Blade, and Brian all nodded. "Team Chaos rises again!" Blade shouted out, raising her left arm into the air. Unfortunately, her comrades didn't share her enthusiasm for the fight, and she quickly lowered it. "But yeah. Sign Brian, you, and me up for team fighting and Simon for singles. And on second thought… maybe Team Chaos isn't such a good name this time. Besides, it's probably already taken."

"Team Necro is out of the question," Brian said, "And the same would go for Aniar. We need something that is actually going to make us seem like newcomers. Low profile."

"I'll think of something," Miki said as she started walking away from the group with Flare. "Oh, Blade?"

"Yeah?"

"How good are you with Necromancy now?" She wondered if Blade had

"Decent enough," Blade answered, quickly generated a spiny bone spear in her hand. Spending a year in Ectratin helped her get in touch with the death-based powers of the Sage's Stone's remains. "Why do you ask?"

"It might be nice to drop a word to Enteria time to time. Are you up to it?"

"Sure am!" The Oracle looked over and noticed Morrigan and Lillith had just walked out in their traditional outfits. "Guess we'll see you later."

"You guys watch yourselves. And remember, these were bastards my family didn't like, so don't bring me up in a conversation," Flare said as he started walking away with his Darkinarki girlfriend.

* * *

_Seriously, stealth _is_ the way to go,_ thought Leveda as he carefully worked his way down a perfectly lit beach on Makai, staying outside of sight whenever anyone looked in his direction. This was _far_ too easy for somebody of his caliber.

Right now, there were seven low class demons around a dock, waiting for a shipment to come in. Two more were in a guardhouse and another five combing the beach for any possible trespassers. _Come on,_ he thought as he carefully slid behind another guard, _mention something about what you and Anya are doing!_

As if it was a command, one of the less-humanoid creatures spoke up to a well dressed, but obviously under-powered, demon.

"Boss, what is Anya shipping in from the Daimakai?" he asked as Leveda carefully looked out into the blood-red waters, searching for any sign of ships on the surface of the burning ocean. Nothing yet.

"She says she found another portal. This time that leads to Alcemia," said the creature in charge. This gave Leveda a shock.

_That_ would _explain why she knows about the Severed Swordsman tournament and Simon,_ the man thought as he suddenly felt a sword prick into his back. _Shit_.

* * *

Donovan looked around the registration booth of the Severed Swordsman tournament, noticing that some people there looked to be only simple martial artists. With any luck, he, Anita, and the rest could stop Anya before anything else could happen.

"Entrance fee?" asked the attendant as he handed her the required amount.

"I wouldn't sign up for this if I were you," came a voice as Donovan turned around, the money still in his hand. "You wouldn't last a minute."

"Ah, Owikamki and Anair," Donovan said as he walked over to the two fighters. "But what are you talking about, not entering?"

"Why do you think it's called the 'Severed Swordsman' tournament?" Miki asked. She pointed to the banner of a swordsman with his arms being cut off. "You wouldn't be able to use _any_ foreign objects for any kind of offensive purpose."

"Not even-"

"Not even Dylek," Flare said shrugging. "Why do you think I'm not entering? Simon's okay without his swords, but seriously. We _do _need people to investigate during the rounds."

"Good point," Donovan said as he saw that Anita had just signed up for the singles matches. "Anything else we should know?"

"Not much," Flare said, noticing that down a few dozen booths, a blonde Spaniard who had just signed up and paid his fee screamed in agony when he realized he couldn't use his beloved claw. "Anyways, the rules change both times we've entered."

A thought quickly came to Donovan as he looked around. "Miki… may I speak to you in private?" The Darkinarki looked around and nodded.

"You know what to do," she said to Flare, leaving him with enough money to pay for the registration. She and Donovan walked down a hallway without many people and he looked around again.

* * *

"I feel like everybody's looking at us," Simon said as he, Blade, and Brian pulled up three seats at a table while Morrigan and Lillith lied through their teeth while talking to other high-ranking demons.

"That's because they are, man," Brian said, pointing down to Simon's swords. "Not to mention you were on the news."

One of the female creatures walked over to Simon, smiling. "You must be Simon Tyer," she said, extending her hand. "My name is Sierra de Gilam."

"I believe Morrigan said something about you," Simon said, almost instinctively reaching towards the Saber. "You're that researcher, right?"

"That is correct," Sierra said, smiling. "I heard you three killed Kirin Enslade for good. That must mean you three together have exceeded the late Jedah Dohma's power."

"You're saying that like we don't know it," Brian said standing up. "Now do you have an actual reason for being here and annoying us?"

"None at all," Sierra said, raising her hands up in an act of neutrality. "But how did you do it?"

"With something that puts all your, what, 1400 spells to shame?" Blade said. "How many of those are just the standard energy beam attack with nothing special about it?"

The last remark caused Sierra's expression to darken a bit. "Perhaps, Miss Longfellow, you'd like to take this outside and settle it?"

Blade shrugged. "Inside's just fine. I'll take you down without disturbing this little party. One question, however." Blade took out her staff and whirled it around in her hands. "Staff… or," she grasped the staff around the top and pulled it apart into the Dracostaff's second form, "Or twin rapiers?"

Sierra just looked at her for a moment before walking away. As she did, Simon pointed over to four people that just entered the party.

* * *

"Miki," the Damphir asked, "Do you know of a man named Leveda?"

"No," Miki said, shaking her head. "Name doesn't ring any bells."

Donovan looked around again. "I met him a day ago. He was the one that recovered the Saber of Ectratin so I could return it to Simon."

"Still don't see where you are going."

"And what would your name be?" asked the head demon as he looked at Leveda. Most of the demons held him at swordpoint and he kept his head bowed down.

"My name is Leveda," the man said, slowly raising his head up. "I think you can tell what I am." He looked at the demon straight in the eye, letting the action sink in.

"No… it can't be…I heard about you people," said the demon as he looked around at his comrades. "KILL HIM!"

* * *

"Miki, Leveda says you killed his older brother," Donovan said, trying to find some way of telling the Assassin.

"Definitely possible. I spent five years as a member of the Darkinarki Commandos and had a pretty big head count in that amount of time."

Donovan sighed. He'd have to come out and just say it. "Miki… Leveda _is_ a Darkinarki."

* * *

"No way…" thought the last straggling demon as Leveda stood around their dead bodies. "How the hell did you…"

The white-clothed Darkinarki walked over and gently pricked the creature's neck with his wrist blades as he looked at him. "Answers. What was Anya shipping in?"

"I don't… I don't know! Stop… stop dammit!" Leveda shoved the blades closer, but in an unusual way.

"You know what is going to happen when I slit your neck from this position?" Leveda asked, "You will have to be perfectly still to maintain optimal blood pressure. If you increase your blood pressure even slightly, the blood will squirt out at a rate so quickly, well… you get the idea. The fact is I need answers, and you can give them. Now talk."

The demon gulped in fear. This guy was _insane_! He had heard Darkinarki were bad news from that whole Kirin incident ten years ago, but seriously! "Okay. Okay! Word is that Anya found some weird guy. Something about a 'matching set'. I don't know anything else! Serious-"

Before the demon had finished talking, Leveda had decapitated him. _Matching set. Please. Don't tell me that's what I think it is_.

* * *

Flare could almost not resist the urge to laugh maniacally as he walked down the hallway where Miki and Donovan had gone. Either Miki was going to kill him or he'd have to pray she'd be too busy trying to break the news to Brian and Blade.

But when he saw Miki standing there with a very serious look on his face, he immediately sobered up. "Meek… what's the matter?"

"Last Severed Swordsman tournament," Miki said to him, "Final round. Me versus a guy called Yuagg. Remember?"

On Alcemia, the organization known as the "Lightbringers" had made considerable efforts to maintain Order in a dominant position. It wasn't until Simon and Brian's arrival that the group was able to be defeated over the course of the year before. There was a silent part of the group, however. People that went by the name of the 'Sacred Assassins' were known for only stepping into a situation whenever things seemed dire, and whenever they did, there were rarely witnesses. After defeating Kirin Enslade, the only part of the Lightbringers remaining was the Sacred Assassins, who had been forced out into the open at the end of the previous Severed Swordsman tournament.

Miki had been completely shocked when she discovered the Sacred Assassins had been none other than other Darkinarki, those that apparently had exiled her comrades for siding with Chaos. Although Miki had been proven to be loyal for her months of assistance, it was obvious she felt a personal grudge. Especially to one named Yuagg, who had used the shock of the truth to make Miki lose in the final round of the team fights of the tournament. Although Miki had gotten back at the bastard and eventually killed him, she held a grudge to those they had called friends not long before. And the fact that Diaben, a Darkinarki they had trusted, turned out to be the Sacred Assassins' leader, only made Miki hold a greater resentment.

What was worse was how they fought. A Sacred Assassin, unlike Miki, fought with illusions, deceptions, and outright manipulation. Almost like a ninja, the stupid stereotypical assassin that Miki despised being called.

Flare nodded. "Another Sacred Assassin is out there then, right?"

"Yeah, but at least this time he might be on our side this time," Miki said.

"He didn't seem to be an enemy when I talked to him, and he _did_ tell me all of this," Donovan said. "But if it makes you feel better, I will keep an eye out for him."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE'RE SIGNED UP FOR A TOURNAMENT WHERE I CAN'T USE ALL MY WEAPONS?" screamed a voice that caused the three to look over at the registration booths. Two girls about Miki's age, one with purple hair and blue and red clothing and the other with brown hair and a green outfit, were arguing.

"Sorry, Lei, but I wasn't told that until _after_ I signed us up in the singles brackets!" said the green-wearing one. "But at least some of our other techniques will work! I double checked, and we _can_ use foreign objects for defense purposes!"

"Yeah but…" the younger sister started to say as she looked over. Her feelings of anger drained away as memories from ten years ago came to the surface. "Hey is that…"

"It is! Remember, she said ten years? Race ya!"

"MIKI!" the two shouted out as they charged, tackling their friend. "It's about time you got back! It's almost been eleven years, dammit!"

"Sorry to keep you two waiting," the Darikinarki said as she got up. "But watch that tackle of yours. You elbowed me in the ribs." As she looked over to Flare, feelings of dread about Leveda pushed aside for the moment, and she quickly realized she had yet another friend to introduce to him. "Sorry. Uh, this is my boyfriend Flare. Flare, Lei-Lei and Lin-Lin. I met them last time I was here."

"I believe my dad said a few things about you two," he said, shaking each of their hands. "You can turn into that Kyong-Shi thing, right?"

"That's us!" said Lei, putting her older sister in a head lock "And might I add my sister here didn't check to see if we would be allowed to use weapons in our Hsien-Ko form!"

"It's okay," Miki said. "I would've preferred Donovan and Flare would have some more help, but it's not the end of the world. Speaking of which, where is Gallon?"

"Don't know," Donovan said, "But I'll inform him that some outside investigative help would be appreciated before he signs ups. Anita should be just fine though. You have now idea how close to being omnipotent she is."

* * *

Lillith sighed as she sat down at a table far away from the serious discussion between Morrigan and Anya. How could she just talk to that woman, laughing and telling anecdotes when that stupid Maximoff had tried not too long ago to kill Simon? More importantly, how could Simon stand sitting there with the woman that had tried to take him eyeing him whenever she had the chance?

"Excuse me, are you Miss Lillith Aensland?" asked a voice as Lillith turned around to see four well-dressed people standing in front of her. If they were demons, Lillith didn't know who they were.

"Uh, yes? Can I help you?" Lillith asked, smiling. Two of those guys looked pretty strapping.

One of the people was wearing a nice black suit, and had long blue hair almost like a stylish mullet (if such a thing was possible.) The second man was similarly dressed, but had bandages wrapped around his hands and neck, and had also had blue hair, although it was cut far shorter. The third person was a woman, who looked pretty nice too. She was wearing a white dress and long silk gloves. Her hair seemed to be some sort of midway point between being blonde, red, and brown. The last was a man wearing a red suit and had blonde hair combed back.

"I am sorry, it's just I the stories of your beauty never gave you justice," said the man in the red suit.

"You must be thinking of my sister," Lillith said in a happy manner, "But thank you very much for the remark."

"Kirin truly didn't tell us everything about you, did she?" asked the woman, and Lillith suddenly stood up. Kirin had mentioned four comrades several times, people that had been good enough to live up to her standards. Three men by the names of Lowew, Ymu, and Noed and a woman named Dena. It couldn't be.

"What, you think we'd stay dead Lillith?" asked Dena in a caring manner. "You think that just because Kirin died for good she didn't cast a spell to bring _us_ back before she was cut off from her Necromantic magic?"

The man with the mullet spoke next. "Seriously! We heard she saw more potential in you that she saw in all of us put together! And you threw it away in the end after you lost your bracer, rejoining with that slut!"

"Lowew," spoke the man with the bandages, "Don't over play our hand. After all, that aforementioned slut is only a few feet away." He turned to Lillith. "But you don't seem to be anything special. And considering she talked day in, day out, about how she was disappointed in you!"

"That wasn't me!" Lillith said, "She just controlled what I did!"

"Ymu is right, my dear," said the last man, "Why do you think you didn't turn back to normal after Kirin died, hmm? Maybe Kirin simply brought out your true self?"

"It wasn't me!" Lillith said, almost loud enough to cause a scene.

The red-suited man smiled again. "You were just acting how you really wanted. You _are _simply the personification of the extra evil energies in Morrigan over there, after all. This innocent charade of yours doesn't work on us."

Lillith began to sweat. How was she going to get out of this? Thankfully, her Cleric in shining armor had come to the rescue.

"Is there a problem here?" came a voice as Kirin's associates turned to see that damned Cleric, Lernan, standing there. "I was hoping we wouldn't have to see you again. If you must know, I still have the Neo Anti-Necro God Cannon. You know, the move that shut Kirin up for good."

"But here we are, Brian," said Noed with irritation in his voice. "I look forward to having my revenge on you specifically, come the tournament. Until then, good day." The four turned and walked away, leaving Lillith shaking from fear.

A/N: Anita has an interesting concept on exactly how Simon acts, and the half-Syken doesn't live up to it, causing the Light Savior to question how much of a hero Simon really is. What's more, Simon and Brian had an old acquaintance at Onio with a serious score to settle, and he's willing to make a deal with Anya in exchange for power that might put him over the edge. And how will Morrigan and Lillith react when they find out Demitri is alive and kicking?

P.S. I deliberately didn't say what Miki's team's name is. I have an idea that could work, but I want to see if anyone has any good suggestions. Tell me in a review, and if it's better than what I have, I'll use it. It really would brighten my day to get some in my inbox.


	5. Fire vs Ice

A/N: Here's the next chapter. I don't own Darkstalkers, the Music Man, or Street Fighter. Jeez, I just keep finding ways of bringing characters into my story. Anyways, please review. I really would like to get something in my inbox.

"What to you mean we don't have the money to fund everybody!" shouted a muscular man about Simon and Brian's age as he and fifteen of his friends stood around.

"Sorry Thaylin," said one of the smaller ones, "but it costs way too much for us all to get into the tournament and get back at Tyer!"

The leader, Thaylin McFang, thought back to when this whole problem started for him. What the hell was Simon's problem? He was to pay the big men on campus the protection money and everything would go swell. But no, Simon had to stand his ground and get in a fight, which ended with him with a switchblade to his wrists.

And then… that strange flash of blue on his skin for some reason, and everything changed. And in the ensuing struggle, one of Thaylin's friends had been killed in an accident. Needless to say, his dad, the Judge Thayro, had made sure that Simon and his stupid athletic friend Brian would be killed for causing trouble at Onio. And then that weird woman and them vanishing.

Three weeks later, when Simon sprang up again, Thaylin found himself again fighting that bastard… and _losing worse than the last time_. Two days later, he had found out his dad had been held at swordpoint by Tyer and let the stupid loser go back to wherever he had came from.

For two long years, Thaylin had trained, day in, day out, in case Simon would ever come back. And if the rumors were true, he had.

Except this stupid tournament cost too much for them all to enter. He looked around him, there were a lot of heavy hitters. Over there looked to be that Chun Li girl that won the World Warrior tournament before the one that had happened not too long ago. And was that really Ryu, the guy that took down Mr. "God of Mui Thai"?

But it didn't matter. He wasn't here for gold and glory, just to see if Simon was. And if he was, he'd get back at that stupid bastard for good.

* * *

"They're back…" Lillith said, her voice drifting off as she looked at the sky. "Why doesn't Kirin just stay down and dead!" Here she had thought she'd never have to worry about that stupid Mage -or Necromancer- or whatever she was ever again, and apparently she had one last trick up her sleeve. "Brian, why are they back? It's not right!" 

The Cleric, who had decided to keep an eye on her, could only sigh. "I don't know. But whatever the case, we'll take them down for good this time. It's not like they're unstoppable or anything."

"But they killed Flare and Miki and that Windedge person and your buddy, Gurn!" Lillith said, recalling the details of the Sword-Mage's battle against Kirin's subordinates.

"Because of their abilities, not by their strength. And we still took them down, didn't we? I'll just have to be sure to blast them with my God Cannon to make sure they never come back. That's not so hard is it?"

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Lillith sighed. "If I wasn't who I was, or _what_ I am, you wouldn't give a damn about me." When she looked over to Brian, she saw him swing his hand up and slap her hard across the face. It wasn't hard, but it did its purpose.

"Don't think I'm some sort of horny teenager that'll say anything to a nice looking girl to get laid," Brian said without anger in his voice, "I've been a Cleric for a while, and I've done plenty of research on sacrifices. Miki said you tried to sacrifice those kids to bring Kirin back ten years ago. It wouldn't have worked."

"Why? They were willing and everything!" Lillith said.

"Kirin was already alive and kicking on Alcemia. She's called the 'Reincarnator' for a reason: she just reincarnates herself whenever she dies. And to be reincarnated, you have to come back at the _exact_ moment you died. And since you couldn't bring her back, the sacrifice wouldn't be accepted. Now if you would excuse me, I think I should break the news to Simon and Blade."

* * *

"So," Morrigan asked Anya in a casual manner as she shifted the discussion to something far more serious, "Why _are_ you after Simon Tyer? He is rather scrawny for the alleged Champion of Chaos, and I'm the Succubus here, so what would a vampiress get out of it?" 

Anya gave Morrigan a smile just as sincere, but with an icy look underneath. "My dear Morrigan, you don't understand much about the power of the Excel Drive, do you?"

"I understand plenty," Morrigan answered back, "It is the desire for a being's very genetic code to survive and eventually reproduce with a being that lives up to its standards. But why would you be following in the footsteps of the woman who was responsible for Demitri's death?"

Anya scowled at the Aensland as a servant walked up to her. "Miss Maximoff?" he asked.

"Yes?" Anya said, with a hint more interest than a noble should be in for a simple message.

"I have received word that he has arrived," the servant demon bowed and left.

Anya smiled and began to walk away. "I hope you will enjoy being a referee in my tournament," Anya said as she walked away, "I will personally relish watching every decision you make and determining if they follow the Severed Swordsman's regulations. Until we meet again."

* * *

"We got trouble," Flare said as he viewed the registration office from a rooftop as a black haired, black dressed woman walked into the building. "Right here in River City. That's Anya, right?" he asked Donovan, who was seated next to him. 

"Indeed," the tall monk said, "Demitri Maximoff's cousin and his successor. Possibly worse than he was. Think we should take a look into what she is doing down there?"

Before he had even finished asking the question, Flare had dropped to the ground and casually walked into the building again. He took the moment to flip open a cell phone and dialed Miki. "Meek, it's me. Any luck locating Gallon?"

"He's right here," the Darkinarki answered, "He apparently got the idea to check on the dealings of the tournament before we even got to him. Want me to put him on the line?"

"Sure." Flare carefully trailed Anya in a calm way, actually going out of his way to put space between the two vampires. Who were those sixteen college losers she was talking to? Only one way to find out.

"Aniar, is that you?" came Gallon's slightly wolflike voice over the phone, "What's the reason for the call?"

"Is your refrigerator running?" Flare joked as he walked up to a reception desk and picked up one the brochures. "Seriously, is Anya the kind of person to put a representative in the tournament?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she just lead a group of young male adults into a room, locked the door, and I'm hearing screaming noises. Considering what she and isn't, something tells me she might be letting those guys get a taste of being a vampire," Flare said, quickly ducking out of the immediate area as the door opened. Not being quite a full vampire, Flare still recognized the symptoms, and they all fitted the role. As Anya looked over to him, Flare casually turned around and started walking out the door. "Sorry hunny, but I gotta go," Flare lied, hoping Anya wouldn't recognize him.

"Out of my way," said a voice that caused Flare to turn around.

Jeez, and Flare thought _he_ had trouble letting go of his traditional outfit. That guy was wearing a blue suit, and once again, Flare sensed the vampiric nature. Could it be that Demitri guy his dad said he and Donovan took down together? No, he was dead. Whatever the case, being an observer was starting to get tiresome, and Flare would prefer catching some sleep before things got out of hands.

* * *

"Cammy!" shouted two German women about her age as they sprang up and hugged their green-garbed friend. The two looked fairly similar, except for the fact that one had semi-long brown hair with two bangs while the other had shorter blonde hair. They were wearing similar outfits to Cammy's, and behind her were another German, a Russian, one Mexican, one Spanish, one Japanese, one Italian, one Spanish, a Vietnamese, and two Chinese women, each wearing similar outfits and hairstyles. 

Cammy smiled at she looked at the twelve women she had rescued from Bison's control five years ago. Enero, Février, März, Aprile, Satsuki, Juni, Juli, Santamu, Xiayu, Jianyu, Noembelu and Decapre all smiled back when Juli handed Cammy a pamphlet about the tournament.

"What's this?" Cammy asked as she flipped it open. She knew there were team battles here, but they _all_ couldn't form a team…

"We're all signed up!" Decapre said, "And we even named the team after you: Team White!"

"Teams with up to fifteen people," Cammy said as it finally sank in. Considering that working as a team, they had all scared off Bison when they broke free, she was confident they could win this. "Any idea who's sponsoring it?"

"Some Eastern European noble," Satsuki said with a Japanese accent, "Her name is Anya. We all heard Vega was entering this tournament, and we all know how you hate the bastard."

Cammy looked around her. She saw plenty of old faces and new ones too. Some people looked like they just came from a Dungeons and Dragon's convention, but hey. Blanka was pretty weird and there were already exceptions. No matter what she would see, she'd have her back watched by twelve trained assassins and friends. Plus everybody else that trusted her with their lives.

* * *

"So much destructive energy," thought an aged, but muscular man as he walked out of a cave. "There must come someone to steer its power lest it destroy this world." The legendary hermit known as Oro, a man now nearly the age of one hundred and fifty two, had been waiting for this for a long time. 

A rematch with Gouki, a fight to the finish. Gouki wouldn't pass up testing the strength of so many fighters, let alone skimp out on seeing Ryu's new level of strength.

But there was still that demon woman, Anya. Oro had held back when Pyron had tried to burn the world to a cinder and also when Jedah tried to unite all souls. There had been others to stop those incidents, and even _Bison_ wasn't worth his time. The only reason the aged hermit had stepped out to fight at the last World Warrior tournament was to finally see if Ryu had the potential he hoped the Ansatsuken fighter did.

But then there was that newcomer… that Simon Tyer he had sensed once two years ago. A being like nothing he had ever felt before. Anger and fear… but also the determination, valor, and trusting nature (in some cases) to set things right. And he was back now. He too could be a possible heir to his art.

It was settled. Oro was entering that tournament.

* * *

"Game plan?" Flare asked Donovan, Miki, and Gallon on a rooftop a few minutes later. 

"Keep investigating, I guess," the werewolf answered. "But we're not going to find anything out for real until the tournament starts in a week. So what're we going to do in the meantime?"

Miki smiled, stood up, and started stretching. "Get back in shape, naturally. How far is the closest abandoned warehouse?"

Donovan closed his eyes, trying to recall if there was one in the town. Eventually the monk answered. "I don't remember. But perhaps fighting _outside_ of the city would be a smarter idea."

"Fighting?" Flare said in a humorous manner, "That's not what she does to train. Broken Mirror, remember? Meek just works on reaction times and strategy. But I _do_ think I have a move to help you practice." The pseudo-vampire unsheathed the Subtle Edge, pointed it at a nearby building, and a black cable appeared from the blade tip to the building almost instantly. "I used the Edge to turn an isolated part of air into a shadowy cable. What're you waiting for? It'll help with balance."

"Let's see just how fast you've gotten," Gallon said, smiling and recalling one of his old training methods. "You remember how this works: just run until I say stop."

Miki was running over rooftops before the second word left his mouth.

* * *

"You know, now I'm _really_ starting to hate Kirin," Blade said as Brian broke the news to both her and Simon. "I go through all that training from the Elementas to be good enough with the Sage's Stone only to find out she beats me at my own game of Necromancy!" 

"Well, whatever the case, this party is starting to wind down. I think we should get back to Morrigan's castle and get rest," Brian said, helping his two friends up. "With any luck, Miki and Flare will already be back there. They carefully walked out of the mansion, keeping an eye on each other in case of traps that any of the more hostile Darkstalkers would try.

After finally getting out into the blood-red outsides of Makai, the three took off at impressive speeds on foot and crossed the countless miles in about an hour.

Waiting from Simon, Blade, and Brian back home were Flare and Miki, already discussing how things in this Severed Swordsman tournament were going to be different. After informing Miki and Flare that somehow, Kirin's four friends were alive and kicking, Miki went over the new rules.

First, like usual, you would lose if you were knocked down to the ground and stayed there for a normal ten count. However, the count was cumulative, meaning if you were down and the referee got to eight, you'd have only about two seconds to get up before ten.

Second, the team fights could now hold teams with up to fifteen people. This was VERY bad for Blade, Brian, and Miki, but at least they had a few moves that worked best against groups. Plus, Brian said he had practiced with the Gift of Chaos to form a more powerful defense measure based off it.

Thirdly, if you are defeated in a team fight, then you're out for the rest of the tournament, even if your team wins the actual match. Meaning that keeping everyone standing in a team fight would be critical.

Next, a team fight would be a total brawl with everybody from one side charging against everyone on the other.

And finally: only the quarter, semi, and final rounds would be shown nationally, meaning any dirty fighters would have a safety net of sorts.

"And of course," Miki finished up as she shifted from informant to trainer, "I figured I'd bring up one of my beloved training regimes. After all, everyone here needs to get into shape."

The screams of fear and dread echoed loudly throughout the castle just as Lillith and Morrigan got back.

The week passed with little trouble. The entire group continued Miki's elaborate training process as Morrigan and Lillith realized that although the Darkinarki may not have be as strong as her comrades, she definitely was the most critical part of their group. She could think up training ideas more twisted than some of the things the Aensland succubae would do to people. The worst was leaping to and from the spiked towers of the Aensland home, with several hundred pounds strapped to their backs and high-powered magnets pulling them down. Suffice to say, there was much bloodloss on that day.

Every day, the five would head to Earth, check on the situation there, and also to pay visits to Donovan, Talbain, and Anita to see how things were going for them.

And then… the week was gone. Morrigan and Lillith received their referee outfits, which were simply black pants and white shirts with black vertical stripes. Simon, Brian, Blade, and Miki all took out their combat outfits with several thin layers of chain mail sewn in. Flare, Donovan, and Gallon got inconspicuous outfits on, and it was time.

The tournament arena itself was on Earth, with otherworldly creatures sticking out among the crowd of humans. But the humans had known for far too long that one _should_ be afraid of the dark, or at least the things that lurked in them.

Anya had also taken the liberty to give a long speech to the fighters, who had all assembled in a large room with a fairly noticeable line between the normal people and the… not-so-normal people.

"I assure all those entering this tournament," the Maximoff began as Simon looked around, noticing a number of people who he hoped he would never see before. "That no harm other than battle injuries will come to all participants. You are all my responsibility, and I will not tolerate out-of-battle fights. If one does occur, I will personally see to the expulsion from the tournament of all parties in question."

The rest of the tournament was lost to Simon as he pointed over his shoulder to Brian, pointing to Thaylin and his friends, all now wearing black suits. "We've got trouble."

"Definitely. Guess we know who Anya wants to win now," Brian whispered back.

"That's not all," Blade said, pointing over to the five other surviving Makai high-nobles: Persimmon de Lepe, Gregorio Hartland, Xell Kreutz, Taurus Drey, and Sierra de Gilam, who Blade seemingly was shooting icy glares at.

Just then, Miki's cell phone rang quietly. She picked it up. "Yes?" she whispered, using her black-hole powers to bend light around her so it appeared she was just sitting there, listening to the speech.

"Miki, it's me," Morrigan answered. "Demitri's on the roster. I managed to sneak a glance at him earlier. He's somehow alive again."

"Well…" Miki said, the prophecy that the skull had told her not too long ago coming to light again, "That _would_ explain a few things. Team battle or singles?"

"Singles. Who'd team up with him?" came Lillith's voice over the phone. "Morrigan's already set up to be referee in _every_ one of Demitri's matches and I'm… I'll be stuck watching Noed and the rest fight too."

"You'll do fine," Miki comforted, "Just don't let them get to you. And remember, if they so much as throw an unprovoked punch at you, you can kick their entire group out of the tournament."

"Thanks. And you guys watch yourselves too."

"When do we ever not?"

* * *

Anya smiled happily as she read over the finalized matches for the first round of the Severed Swordsman tournament in her study. Poor, poor Bulleta. She'd be demoralized again, with a chance of survival even slimmer for her this time. Oro would have some surprises too, and the same would go for his little protégé, Ryu. 

But there were other things to do. Thaylin and his friends had tasted wonderful, but she'd actually have to put them to good use. If only she could figure out which team was Owikamki's! That stupid Aniar bastard had apparently come up with a good name and Anya couldn't figure out which one was that of Brian, Blade, and Miki. Oh well.

"Thaylin…" she called, ushering the new vampire over to her side as she wrapped her arms around him and playfully bit into his neck, letting more of the Maximoff family's strength flow into him. If only she could figure out now what that docks incident was all about. Whatever had caused it was leaving a very thin trail, and nobody it met was around to say what it was. It _could_ have been Owikamki, but the odds of that were slim. Spies had accounted for her position at the time of the incident, and besides, it wasn't her style.

But more about that later. Thaylin could use a little extra power for the fights…

* * *

"No way!" screamed Bulleta as she read whom she'd fight for the first match. "No way in hell! I get the chance to take loserboy down!" It wasn't as good as killing Miki, but blasting apart her little trainee, Tyer, would be good enough. 

"You're not going to kill him," Donovan said plainly. "We don't know what Anya is planning and he could be of some help."

"Don't worry," the young twenty-year-old said as she formed a pair of Ice Magnums in her hands. "I won't _kill _him… just make him feel as pathetic as Miki made me feel." She strode off before the Damphir could say anything else.

"She's asking for it," Gallon said, cracking his neck. "Simon will slaughter her."

"I'm not too sure," Anita answered. "I _would_ like to see just how a Champion of Chaos acts in battle, however." She calmly walked in the direction Bulleta had gone, wondering if this battle really _would_ be one-sided.

* * *

"She's got guns like I do, man," Brian said as Simon tossed his swords over to Flare. "But I've focused on Lightning-based guns. I don't know how many different types she has, so be careful." 

"And she's a skilled Darkhunter," Miki said. "So you're going to have to stay focused from the get go. Think a barely-started Excel Drive will keep you in the game?"

"He'll do fine," Blade said. "After fighting some of those guys on Alcemia, he'll do fine."

"Thanks," Simon said as he pulled his burgundy-colored bracer to a comfortable level on his left wrist. "Time to show her just what a half-Syken can do!"

The arena itself was much like a coliseum battleground, Chun Li thought as she talked with one of the veterans from the World Warrior tournaments; she believed it was Ken Masters. The inner part used light-colored sand as its floor while the outer part had much darker sand. Apparently, the black sand was the "ring-out" part. Chun broke off the conversation with Ryu's rival as both fighters walked out. She'd see just how much of Bison's successor was from this fight Simon Tyer really was. If it was something serious, she'd let the entire group know.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" shouted the current referee, "From the depths of Earth's Darkhunter organization, the gunslinging girl that is all grown up, master marksmen and training from an early age, the famous Bulleta Hood!" The applause was deafening, mainly from people that had heard of her systematic and senseless killing of targets. The Chinese woman wasn't sure who to root for this time.

"And her opponent: an upstart back from two years in hiding, I give you Simon Tyer!" As the teenager walked out into the open, it was dead silent save for the clapping and cheering of several of his teammates and friends.

"Take her down!" Blade cried out.

"She's nothing you haven't seen before!" Brian added.

"Shut your yaps!" Bulleta snarled, already forming what appeared to be a large icy rifle.

"You leave my friends out of this," Simon said plainly, assuming a pathetic fighting stance. He never had gotten completely used to fighting without a sword. "Or I will burn you to a cinder." A burgundy colored aura erupted around him, offsetting his black and blue outfit.

The two fighters walked to each other, shook hands, and walked back as Bulleta added another snide remark. "Nice position back there. Really pointless. I could spot over ten vulnerable points in your form."

"Less talk, more fighting," Simon answered back, once again taking his stance.

* * *

Anya looked out of her private box at the two fighters stared at each other. It was time to see just the extent of an incomplete Excel Drive. 

"Thaylin. I'm holding you back from fighting Simon any time soon. I want the _complete_ Drive, so wait to bite him until the time is right."

"Yes, mistress."

* * *

As soon as the referee shouted go, the two fighters were at it. Bulleta had opened up with her rapid-fire Ice Rifle, sending a constant stream of shots at Simon, who simply stood there. When the shots hit, he flew back a good couple of feet with a strange look on his face. 

_What the…_ thoughts were running through his head, _but the Gift of Chaos should've been able to negate that. Something's crooked here._ Okay. Don't rely on the Gift. He could do that.

Bulleta's next round of shots were stopped by one of Simon's "Punk Red Violets", which hit the first one and melted each one of the shards with the resulting heat. As Bulleta saw another coming straight at her, she flung up her arms to protect herself, but when it hit, she was flown backwards.

"What the… how'd you do it?" Bulleta asked as she reformed her rifle into a pair of Uzis. Simon was simply smiling.

"It's called the _Variable_ Fireball for a reason. I can adjust the heat and explosive yield of each ball I toss, meaning I'm going to be throwing you off guard this whole fight!" Simon generated another several of the red and purple spheres in his hands, tossing them like grenades and throwing changeups the whole time.

As the dust settled, Bulleta shot forward and struck Simon hard across the face and kicked him high into the air. "Off guard this!" A massive blue gun turret appeared and shot a massive icicle through Simon's whole left arm. "Ice Gun-Buddy's. And there's more where that came from!" A dozen other gun turrents sprang up, opening fire.

Simon rolled out of the way before the next attack hit him. This wasn't going to be as easy as he'd hoped.

A/N: The Burgundy Soul-Flame's powers stem from two elements: Fire and Wind. Simon will quickly discover how critical both are to his success as he struggles against a very sadistic Bulleta. And when a certain Caucasian calls Miki a "Ninja", all Hell breaks lose when Miki ends up insulting the entire way of life in Oscillators, Matches, and Gusts.

P.S. The poll of the team name of Brian, Miki, and Blade is still open, and this is your last chance. So seriously! Please review!


	6. Oscillators, Matches, and Gusts

A/N: I don't own Darkstalkers, Street Fighter, Final Fight, or Dungeons and Dragons (forgot to say that last chapter.)

"Well… if anything, he definitely doesn't _fight_ like Bison did," Chun Li remarked as the fight between Bulleta and Simon continued.

"He's pretty good with those fireballs," Ken added, "although I can't really figure out his fighting style. You said he usually fights while using swords?" He whistled as Simon jumped over the barrage of Gun-Buddy shots and Bulleta, dropping Variable Fireballs all around the Darkhunter.

The Interpol agent nodded. "Yes, but he seems… a little faster this time around. I can still follow all of his moves without much difficulty, but Tyer seems to have no problem dodging that girl's attacks."

"Wonder if he has anything like a Shoryuken," Ken wondered aloud.

* * *

As if a command, Simon managed to roll close enough to Bulleta and punch at her, but the girl countered by raising a massive sheet of ice.

"Didn't see that coming, didja?" Bulleta playfully asked as she summoned an entire ring of gun turrets around Simon. "NOW DIE!"

_Hope this works…_ Simon thought as he spun around, a small burgundy fire flaring up on his hands. _Dammit! Gotta say the name again!_ _Oh well…_ "MATCHSTICK PUNCH!" As the icy shards fired off, Simon slapped them all down, his entire forearms burning with his traditional mix of red and purple. "What were you saying about dying?" Simon began slamming his fists into the wall, again and again.

_What's he doing?_ _He's getting nowhere doing that!_ But a sharp noise was heard, and Bulleta thought she noticed several cracks slowly appearing on the sheet. Then it clicked. As a large enough crater appeared in the wall, Simon put another Variable Fireball in the hole and detonated it, resulting in the wall completely shattering. Simon charged again, chopping down with his burning hands and managed to knick the escaping Bulleta's red jumpsuit. The girl countered by knocking Simon away with a shotgun blast to the stomach, noticing there was a significant burn mark on her shoulder.

"You mean… it's an actual fire?" She had seen attacks similar to it before, but not one that used actual fire. And if that was the case, why weren't Simon's hands a pile of ash?

"You bet," Simon said, staggering to his feet and taking the opportunity to run his burning hands over his gut, soothing out the blast damage. "Yowza, and I thought Brian's guns packed a kick. But as to your question, I use my Gen to manifest an actual fire. My hands can survive the fire thanks to my Syken side."

"What are you, some kind of fire demon?"

"Something a little more human than that, but you get the idea."

Bulleta smiled. It was almost time to turn this bastard's greatest strength into a crippling weakness.

* * *

"Simon's doing pretty good," Blade said confidently as he managed to stay one step ahead of Bulleta's next round of icy shots, melting them when the need arose. She looked up to see Morrigan and Lillith standing there in their referee outfits. She looked over to Miki and Brian, both of whom simply shrugged. "Pull up a seat."

"So is it really Demitri?" Miki asked to the succubae, seeing them nod.

"Yes," Morrigan said, "And he's set to fight next against some nobody. We'll be able to see just what he's capable of. Speaking of which," she handed the Darkinarki a list. "You're first team match is against Team Mad Gear. And what's with the name? It seems… unlike you."

Miki, Brian, and Blade all looked down at the paper, all of them suddenly wishing to kill Flare. "Team Guns & Roses?" Miki growled as she grit her teeth, "I'm gonna rip Flare apart when I get the chance!"

"It fits," Brian sighed. "Besides… it's not the end of the world, is it? Hey Blade, the team is five people. At least you'll get a work out."

"That makes it at least partly worthwhile," Blade said timidly, noticing that Morrigan and Lillith were eyeing Simon with an odd look in their eyes. "You know, I'm right here."

"We know," Lillith said, "It's not like that. It's just… why isn't he sweating? He's doing so much running around and everything…"

"Syken benefits beside the Excel Drive," Brian said. "The race was already known for defensive qualities. Reaction speeds, endurance, durability. That sort of thing."

"Syken endurance…" Morrigan drifted off, "Blade, what's that like in bed?"

Brian and Miki had to hold back their teammate before she attacked the Aensland.

* * *

"You're doing quite well," Bulleta remarked as she played keep-away with Tyer, switching guns to whichever one fit the situation with little transition time. "Too bad you can't land a hit with your little Match Punches."

"Fine then!" Simon announced, letting the flames subside. He looked around. Bulleta was only a couple of meters away from the ring-out area. He put his hand forward, palm facing out, hoping to beat her this time. "West Wind!

The resulting gust of wind kicked up not only a significant level of sand, but also Bulleta herself. _The bastard has wind-powers too? Dammit! Phase two it is, then!_ Bulleta formed a strange looking brown pistol in her hands and fired a cable into the ground, keeping her from getting knocked away much more. "That does it, loser! You're switching elements, then so am I!" Bulleta fired off rocky bullets from her guns now; smiling as two shots slammed into Simon's left arm and causing a small amount of blood to begin oozing from it. "Your arm of yours doesn't look like it's doing too well, Simon. Why don't you step out of the ring and patch it up with your little fire moves?"

"Shove it," Simon shot back before chucking back another Variable Fireball. _I'm not getting anywhere… even with the Wind Shove! If I could only get close to that bitch!_ Time to bring out the big guns. Simon prayed he'd have the time to check something out as he rolled over to the referee. "Hey, I'm not disqualified if I bounce off the coliseum wall, am I?"

The referee shook his head about two seconds before another round of rocky bullets came their way. A quick jump later, Simon was bouncing away from the attack with two red spheres glowing on his hands. He slammed into the wall and shot back at an intense speed.

"Another Punk Red Violet attack?" Bulleta asked, taking aim this time with one fire pistol and the other made of earth. "Well, I've got a surprise for you!" She lead her shot and fired the rocky stalactite into Simon's battered left arm as he bounded towards her and quickly followed with the fiery attack.

The results were disastrous. The stalactite became lodged in Simon's forearm and the fire sealed the object inside, effectively killing any feeling Simon had in the limb.

But it wasn't over yet, because Bulleta saw that Simon still had the glowing sphere in his right hand and on Simon's face was a look somewhere between great pain and great triumph. "SURPISE THIS! PUNK RUBY OSCILLATOR!" He flung his right hand forward, shooting a bright red beam from his hand straight at the girl. Bulleta raised up another wall of ice, which refracted the beam away from her. "WEST WIND!" This time, Simon brought the gust in the opposite direction to blow against him and also slamming Bulleta into her ice.

The dazed Darkhunter barely had the time to react before Simon was on her, grabbing her hair and punching her again and again, using the recoil to continue pulling her into his fist. Before long, blood coated his hand and Bulleta's head. Between the heat of his hands making her dizzy and the constant barrage, she wasn't going to last long.

* * *

_This… is how he fights?_ Anita thought as she watched Simon evade, roll, and eventually grab onto Bulleta's hair. _He… fights dirty?_

"Something bothering you?" Donovan asked the young girl as Simon finally tossed the unconscious girl out of the ring, winning the fight.

"It's just… I expected a Champion of Chaos to fight differently. More like I would or something along those lines. He seemed almost unheroic…"

"Whatever the case," Donovan said, "He definitely knows how to win. Besides, don't you have a match coming up? It would be wise to get ready." His phone rang and the Damphir took a look at it. "Hmmm, Flare has located Leveda again. I have to go, but best of luck in your match."

* * *

"You beat her, and without your swords!" Blade cheered triumphantly as she jumped down and hugged Simon. "Not the way I would've done it, but you still kicked her ass!"

Simon winced as Blade embraced him and then pointed down to his arm. "Blade, do you mind?"

"Oh sorry." One quick snap of her fingers later, Simon's arm was back at peak condition, thanks to the power of the Sage's Stone.

"I meant just let go so I could do it myself," Simon said, ruffling her hair as they walked away. "But your way worked too. But one second. It might be smart to get Bulleta out of the arena." Simon walked over to the girl's body, noticing she was already awake and… crying? "What's wrong? I beat you fair and square, you know."

"It's not fair…" Bulleta whimpered, almost to herself, "You get a critically injured left arm, and your little floozy just patches it up! But me?" the red-clad Darkhunter shot a lethal gaze at Simon, "TEN YEARS OF HELL, DAMMIT! YOUR LITTLE OWIKAMKI FRIEND WRECKED MY HANDS, AND YOUR FRIEND JUST FIXES YOU LIKE A TOASTER? YOU SICK SON OF A-"

She never got any farther, because Simon backhanded her _hard_ across the face. When she looked back at him, a look between hate and depression was on her face.

"That was a warning," Simon said as he walked away. "Next time, my hand flies full speed because where I've lived for the past two years, people who blame their shortcoming on others are lower than dirt." Simon then stopped and turned to look at her in an almost pitying manner. "You made a mistake ten years ago. Fix that mistake instead of blaming the people that exposed it. Maybe then you'll see what you really are and what you can be."

Bulleta could only stand there in silence as the man that beat her walked away.

* * *

_Utterly amazing_, thought Leveda as he began to walk away from his vantage point. Simon had only two of the seven points of the Excel Drive unlocked… and yet he defeated a high-ranking Darkhunter. _But there are too many heavy hitters to put faith in the weak Drive. He must complete it to stand a chance against Thaylin!_

"Leveda!" shouted a voice behind the Sacred Assassin as he turned to see Flare Aniar standing there. "I thought Miki and Donovan were exaggerating when they said a Sacred Assassin had sprung up again, but I guess I was wrong." The pseudo-vampire unsheathed his knife and took up a stance. "Nevertheless, I _will_ take you down."

"I'm not here for trouble," the Darkinarki said, raising his hands up in a sign of surrendering. "I'm here to keep Miki on her current path. Good to see you again, Donovan," Leveda said, bowing his head towards the monk. Donovan returned the favor, but Dylek was still in his hands.

"You mean… you know about that prophecy Balteria Ciercin spoke of that she'd be useless here?" Flare dropped his guard on a small bit while doing this.

"Miki did mention something about that," Donovan said.

"Owikamki was able to defeat Yuagg, the second highest ranking Sacred Assassin one year ago," Leveda explained, "and then Arc and Simon, the Cyken and the Syken succeeded in defeating Diaben, the highest ranking. And I might add that you and Gurn played a big role, considering you held Diaben off while those two could get back their second wind. Although Diaben's power was weaker than Kirin's, it still is quite the accomplishment."

"What is your point, Leveda?" Flare asked, recalling that last great battle they had fought.

"My point is you protect your beloved Necromancers for a mistake they committed three hundred years ago. I'm starting to believe that the Darkinarki, too, made a mistake. They just needed one stealth-hating, Broken Mirror-using Darkinarki to show them the right way. What're you waiting for? Miki's going to be fighting in her first fight in about ten minutes."

Flare looked at the man, wondering just what Leveda was after. "Donovan, can you keep an eye on him?"

"I won't be going anywhere," the Sacred Assassin said, sitting down. "Feel free to root for your friends."

* * *

"Time to get back down to business," Brian said as he slipped on his brown jerkin. Normally he'd use one of his Cleric outfits, but he, Blade, and Miki ought to at least look the way they did last year when they won the title, for tradition.

"Just wait a moment, please," Miki asked as she walked into a bathroom, checking to make sure her light-bending trick made her eyes look normal, and also debating whether or not to do it. What the hell, it'd have sentimental values for her friends here and it would make her hair harder to grab. The Darkinarki grabbed her ponytail at a point roughly two inches above the bottom of her neck and cut her hair right below that point and then let it hang loose. When she walked out, Blade and Brian were both looking at her. "What? I've done it before!"

"Nothing. Now seriously, I wanna see just how good these guys are," Blade said, walking out into the arena. She looked up to see Simon sitting with that those two twins that Miki had met before and Flare. Bulleta was still MIA.

"Ladies and Gentlemen…" the referee I give you the all-star team that won the previous Severed Swordsman with barely any trouble at all… TEAM-"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT NAME!" screamed Brian, Miki, and Blade. "THEY KNOW WHO WE ARE!"

"Uh… point taken. And on this side… fresh out of hiding, the scourge of Metro City: Team Mad Gear!" Five fighters of various height and build stepped out of the other side, and Brian, Blade, and Miki all took stock of them.

The first looked to be an African American with dreadlocks and sunglasses. The second looked to be a military man with a red beret, still secretly crying inside for not being allowed to use his beloved baton. The third was a large man, who seemed to be Japanese, although his face was hidden by a mask. The fourth was a _massive_ wooly-haired man in a purple outfit, and the last was a woman with long red hair (covering part of her face) a black hat, and a little less clothing than she should.

"So you're the guys that won the last tournament, eh?" asked the woman, dropping into a fighting stance. "Well, we've got a thing or two to say about that, right Hugo?" She looked up at the large grappler, who smiled and assumed his own stance.

"It's five on three, so the odds are really not in your favor. A good strategist would know that," said the red-bereted man.

"No, a good strategist would get the job done with the minimum amount of effort," Miki said back, trying to gauge how strong the group was.

"Looks like the ninja has some bite," said the masked man, "I'll take her down."

The word "ninja" echoed in Brian and Blade's ears. "I think we should stay away from her this time," Brian said. "I'll deal with fatty and the rostefarian."

"No problem," Blade said, already charging.

* * *

"Oh god," Simon said as his three friends literally butchered Team Mad Gear. "The humanity."

"Was it this bad last year at the tournament?" Lei-Lei asked, shivering as Blade slammed the woman up into the air by summoning a rocky pillar and then shooting a ball of fire and slamming her back down. The Oracle then turned to face the military man, avoiding a wild swing he sent at her. Blade formed a pair of bony spears and stabbed them into the man's arms. Three to go.

Brian at the moment had already gotten the dread-locked fighter on the ground, unconscious, and was playing keep-away with "Hugo."

"I really can't see any recurring trends that carry over to all of your fighting styles," Lin-Lin said, wincing as Brian took a hard punch to the jaw that sent him spiraling. As the gunner spun, he formed his personal favorite gun, the Lightning Sniper, and blasted a shot through Hugo's leg. As the big wrestler went down, Brian was already charging at him, slamming him hard in the gut and face.

"We don't have a dojo or anything," Flare explained, cheering Miki as she deftly avoided every strike the masked fighter sent at her, whittling his strength down with punches and kicks she'd squeeze in. "Meek just sticks to Broken Mirror, I've got my Aniar-style fighting, Brian already had an impromptu way of fighting before he arrived at Alcemia and was further trained by a Cleric when he died, Blade just loves fighting and Simon…"

"Random freestyle. Despite everybody's pleadings, it works," Simon finished plainly. "Not to mention I have all the skill I earned from using the Saber of Ectratin. Now if Owikamki would just finish that bastard off already!"

* * *

"There's three types of people I _really_ hate," the aforementioned Darkinarki stated as she caught another of the man's punches and actually squeezed down on the fist, causing bones to break. Miki followed up with a swift groin kick and a hard punch to his face, cracking open the Japanese mask to reveal… a Caucasian? "What the… you're not even Japanese! What's with you, man?"

"My… name's Sodom," the man stated in a falsetto voice as he struggled to stand up, "And… I love the Japanese way of life. The codes of honor, the martial arts, the lege-GAHHHH!"

Miki had taken the opportunity to form her traditional wrist-blades and form an X-slash across his chest. "And you're a _criminal?_ There's nothing right about what you're doing anyways!" She could simply knock him out, but Miki was never one to skip delivering a very painful lesson and deflate one's ego.

As Sodom tried to charge again, Owikamki slammed herself hard on the ground and sweeped at his legs. As the white man jumped the attack, Miki swung her legs up in a crescent shape and smashed them into the side of his chest. "What's so great about Japan? It probably has plenty of great legends, but so does every place on this planet! If anything, it's probably damn overrated." Miki willed her eyes to shift back to their inverted form, causing Sodom to try to scuttle away.

"What the… what are you?" he said in a timid voice as he crossed the ring-out line.

Miki just kept looking at the man. "Take pride in where you live and don't just steal from a culture you know little about. Besides, it's pretty damn annoying when everybody calls me a ninja when I'm not. Those stupid bastards rely on stealth and don't even bother letting someone see their face when it's time for the kill…" Her voice drifted off as Brian and Miki each put a hand on their teammate's shoulder.

"Let's get out of here. We'll sort this out later."

As they walked away, one girl about Miki's age was gritting her teeth, however. "Ibuki! Did you hear that? She just insulted your entire way of life!"

"I heard her, Makoto, and rest assured, I _will_ get back at her!"

* * *

"Well, today was full of pansyasses," Blade said glumly as she collapsed into a chair at a hotel lobby. Thankfully, the new rules stated the fighters would go through an entire round for the day, meaning everyone would only have on fight a day. That meant the whole group, Anita, Hsien-Ko, Gallon, Donovan, and the Aenslands included, could at least unwind.

"I'm happy to say Noed and the rest didn't try anything shifty," Lillith added. "But I saw just how strong they are, even by Makai's new standards of power."

"That just leaves what Demitri and Anya are planning," Anita stated. "But at least in that case, we know they're against each other."

"But there's still Leveda and whatever he's planning," Miki said, still upset about having another reminder of her Sacred Assassin brethren.

"I'm not so sure he's here for trouble," Simon said, causing Flare, Blade, and Brian to almost spit out their drinks.

"Who are you and what have you done to Simon?" Brian and Blade shouted in unison. Mr. Paranoia… hoping for the best in somebody who was the brother of Yuagg? Something was very wrong here!

"I'm just saying that Flare said Leveda's been pretty open and everything. If he'd want to betray us, wouldn't he act timid and everything to play the guilt card for us not trusting him and let our guard down?"

Everybody just looked at Simon with a quizzical look on his face. "Simon Tyer…" Anita asked, "What _are _you? A paranoid or trusting person? Hero or anti-hero? Swordsman or pyromaniac?"

The half-Syken could only shrug. "To be honest, I feel I'm half of all those things. I don't try to be a hero. I just try to survive."

A/N: Demitri Maximoff holds a massive grudge towards Lillith Aensland for a crime Kirin Enslade was responsible for. How far will this vendetta go when it appears Demitri must worry about another successor of the Maximoff family: Thaylin McFang? More importantly, will Simon with his incomplete Excel Drive stand up better in his rematch against Chun Li? Find out next chapter: Renewed Valor.


	7. Renewed Valor

A/N: I don't own Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, or Final Fight. Alcemia is mine, though.

"Interesting situation we have going on here," Enteria mused as he talked back in Ectratin with a skull. "Any idea how we missed Leveda on our Sacred Assassin tour?"

"None at all," the skull said with Blade's voice. "I was hoping you could get in touch with Arc or Gurn or even Windedge and see to checking Alcemia over again. If anything, Leveda being around at least makes sense, considering Miki doesn't have an Excel Drive of her own."

"I'll look into it," the Necromancer said as he dismissed the skull away and replaced it with a bone walking stick. As the aged man walked out of his study, he sighed.

It had been a depressing day when the Darkinarki Commandos had headed out in full strength, knowing reclaiming the Saber of Ectratin was a suicide mission. But they had a job to do, and Enteria had been the one to do the service for each one of their burials. He honestly wondered how Miki did it: she had possibly gone through more in her life than most even dreamed; losing your entire family in a doomed mission, watching as two college students surpassed her in speed and strength, and then discovering her final enemy was none other than her own flesh and blood.

But Enteria had better things to do than dwell on the past, like try to locate the famous Arc Cyko.

* * *

"Done and done!" Blade said as she waved away her own communication skull and looked up at her cohorts. "Enteria's already heading over to see Gurn and Arc, so we might have a second team investigating things on the Alcemia end."

"Nice to know," Miki said as she looked out of the window of their apartment complex they had rented. "Just hope Leveda is on level with us."

"If anything," Gallon remarked as he headed out to the rooftops, "Donovan, Flare, and I will keep an eye on him. Just worry about Thaylin, Demitri, and Kirin's people."

"I'm not worried about Thaylin," Simon said confidently, "The loser might be Anya's little choice for taking me out, but I slaughtered the guy once before, and I'm sure I can do it again."

"Needless to say," Brian said as he stood up, "Considering Simon's Gift didn't work when he fought Bulleta, it might be smart to show you guys the Chaos Gauntlet tech I came up with."

"Chaos Gauntlet?" asked Donovan, Blade, Miki, Simon, Gallon, Flare, and Anita with quizzical looks on their faces.

"I'll show you on the rooftops. I haven't perfected it yet, though." The gunslinger quickly ran up to the aforementioned roof and requested Donovan stand about five feet away from him. "Alright Donovan. How fast are your elemental attacks with Dylek?"

"As fast as your traditional projectile," the Damphir answered. "Any preference?"

"None at all," Brian remarked with a grin on his face as he assumed a defensive stance as his left side faced Donovan. "That's what makes this move so good, it even works on Gen-based attacks! Ready?"

"One second," Miki called out, gesturing towards Simon. "I wonder if there are any secrets to Dylek the Saber would reveal. Simon?" After a slight hesitation, Simon tossed his beloved sword over to Donovan, who held the smaller katana.

It is hard to explain exactly _what_ happens when the Saber of Ectratin changes users, simply because their change is metaphysical. On paper, the sword simply lets its user suddenly realize techniques with swords and knives it would take possibly years to learn, but that is difficult to understand. Nevertheless, Donovan quickly assimilated new techniques for his powerful sword.

Then, in what seemed like a single second, Donovan striked. "DYLEK: ACID!" Donovan shouted, spreading a stream of purple acid frothing from the blade.

"Chaos Gauntlet Tech!" Brian shouted in retaliation, swinging up his left, bracered arm as both arm and bracer turned blue. The acid ricocheted off at odd directions, but thankfully, not at anyone. As the smoke cleared, everyone was looking at the gunslinger with shock in his or her eyes.

"HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN COOPING THAT UP?" Simon, Miki, and Flare shouted in unison, eager to take their defensive spell that had served them so well to the next level. "WE COULD'VE USED THAT!"

"Sorry," Brian said in an embarrassed manner, "but it's not an instant fix. I've only been able to get the left arm to flare up with the protective aura and it only works on spells that take physical form. But as to its performance, it's sort of like you focus the gift into physical form on your body. The left arm was the easiest place to start, just since the bracer is _on_ the left arm."

Donovan looked at the group, talking, as he suddenly felt he had seen something. An image, flashing across his eyes for a single moment, of four children playing in a grassy field.

The first wore an outfit not unsimilar to the one Brian had. He had short white hair and also had that black cross on his jerkin. The second was a little girl wore a black robe similar to the ones that Simon and Blade had, and had combed-back black hair. The third wore a grey robe that seemed to be a cross between the two outfits and had brown hair. The last child was a young blonde-haired girl that wore a white dress. Donovan would recognize who it was in an instant.

It was Kirin Enslade, in what appeared to be a six-year-old child.

The Damphir staggered back for a moment as Anita ran to his side. He looked over to Flare, Miki, and Simon, and Brian, oblivious to what had just happened and working on that Chaos Gauntlet maneuver.

"What is it?" Anita asked, never seeing Donovan looking so shocked in well over ten years.

"I saw… _her_," Donovan said quietly as he dropped the Saber to the ground. "She was a child… with others. She couldn't have been any older than when I had first met you, smiling, laughing, being… _normal_."

Anita nodded her head and looked over to see Blade had walked over, noticing something was wrong. "It's the Saber, Donovan saw something that I think we should talk about in privacy."

Blade agreed and led them back down into the room, listening to every word Donovan said. When he was done, he and Anita were expecting an ominous foretelling of danger. Blade had a different take on it.

"She's finally happy," Blade explained as she picked up a piece of paper and began drawing a who's-who chart. "As you know, Kirin, right here, was the primary contender with Balteria Ciercin for becoming the leader of the Necromancers. But in actuality, Kirin's desire was to destroy them and the Clerics.

"Now," Blade continued, finishing her sketch, "Kirin was born around the same time as Balteria Ciercin, except in different families. You two have probably heard from Miki about a single mistake the Necromancers did three hundred years ago which caused the Clerics to oppress them, correct?"

"She mentioned it," Donovan remarked. "What was this mistake?"

"They believed their brethren, the Mages," Blade answered. "They thought that Order was no longer needed, and so they tried to destroy it. In return, the Clerics killed every single Mage except one by the name of Ireknir, who went into hiding, and then began to grind the Necromancers under their boot. Balteria Ciercin fought against his former comrades and worked to help rebuild the Necromantic society roughly seventy-five years after that when he was sent there as a peacekeeper.

"But Ireknir had a plan, a twisted plan. He was near the end of his life, but he had a daughter, named Kirin. Kirin was a vindictive child, wishing revenge on the Necromancers and the Clerics and also spent her days researching magic. Ireknir tried to form a Blade of Might of his own, but died in its formation. Kirin picked up the pieces and went around Alcemia, forming pacts with every single demon there and then forming an undead army in an attempt to acquire the Mage's Sword, Pike, and Staff, the three pieces of this new Blade of Might. She assumed the guise of the "Reincarnator" and had everyone convinced she was merely a powerful demon until Balteria finally battled her. In the end, it took Balteria Ciercin and his former master -and best friend- Guarnig to defeat Kirin. Balteria then took that sword Kirin had made, the Mage's Sword, and completed it's transformation into the Saber of Ectratin."

"That doesn't explain the children," Anita pointed out. "Unless…"

"But who was the other girl I saw?" Donovan asked.

"Glad to know you caught on," Blade said. "It is _very_ likely that Balteria and Kirin would have met with different results if Kirin had never felt vengeful towards the Clerics and Necromancers. I think what you saw, Donovan, was a symbolism of Kirin finally finding peace. The two boys were Balteria and Guarnig and the girl was the Necromancer that Balteria loved, Elde Ciercin. Maybe Kirin found some reason to give up on revenge, or maybe ten years in the Afterlife did her some good. Whatever the case, I'd honestly say that even if Kirin somehow came back, which is impossible since I cut her off from her Necromancy, she'd try to undo her crimes. Who knows, maybe Noed and the rest don't know and are just doing what they think she'd want them to do."

* * *

"Interesting," Anya remarked as she watched the video of last year's Severed Swordsman single round finals. Arc Cyko looked shockingly similar to Simon, except for the fact he had yellow skin and hair, he was more muscular, wore an unrestrictive suit of red armor, and his left eye was terribly scarred.

The fight had been in Simon's advantage early on until Arc had somehow chopped at the half-Syken with glowing white hands, somehow cutting off Simon's Gen. "They say," said a humanoid demon next to him, "That technique is called the 'Solar Branding'. It was the sole reason Cyko won the fight."

"Thank you, Kaga. I want you to look into any fighter with a similar attack. I want you to then arrange the fights so that Thaylin will fight that contestant. And set Thaylin's friends to fight Team 'Guns and Roses', will you? I want them rubbed out, or at least worn down."

"Miss Maximoff, I also have heard that Kirin Enslade's four associates have entered the tournament under the name 'Team 'Edalsne', which is Enslade spelled backwards. Do you wish to pit them against Longfellow and her team?"

Anya shook her head. "No. We test them against Thaylin's group first. There are still the other Makai nobles to deal away with them. Besides, Project Diamond could be furthered by their defeat."

"Project Diamond… how could I forget?"

* * *

"You're going up against _him_, aren't you?" asked Ryu as Chun Li suited up for her second round fight.

"I'm not worried," the detective stated as she looked at her fellow World Warrior combatants. "I faced him once before, and even that explosive fireball thing he had didn't work too well. I'll just stay up closer and keep at it. Not to mention I'm finally going to see just how much of a Psycho power user he is. Cammy, any idea on how much power Vega has?"

The former Shadoloo assassin shook her head. "Juni and Juli and the rest of us haven't seem him do anything out of the ordinary." She was going to add more, but Chun Li was already walking out into the arena. Standing there was Simon, ready in his pathetic excuse for a fighting stance.

"You're not going to run away this time," the Taichi fighter stated calmly as she cracked her neck and dropped into her far superior stance. Simon stayed silent with those cold grey eyes staring at her. "Not in the mood for talking this time?"

The referee shouted 'go', and Chun Li shot at him like a bullet, smashing her fist into his jaw too hard for a normal teenager to withstand. As Simon skidded away from the impact, he threw one of his Variable Fireballs at Chun Li, hoping to get the Chinese woman off guard like Bulleta. The black-haired detective returned the favor by shooting off Kikouken, which intercepted Simon's blast in mid-flight.

_She's good… much better than Bulleta was_, Simon thought as he relaxed, charging and jumping from left to right to avoid a flurry of kicks, Match Punch ready to be sent. _Here goes…_

"Hyakuretsukyaku!" Chun Li shouted as her feet glowed yellow and shot from seemingly a dozen point into Simon's wrist, knocking it away and letting her grab his arm and toss him at the ring-out area.

"North Wind!" Simon shouted just as he touched down, stopping inches away from the ground and floating there. He wasted no time, lunging back at Chun Li, refining his strategy to win.

The levitation move had a detrimental effect on Chun Li, who could've sworn Simon looked like Bison for a split second. And then he was on her again, sending two punches at different heights. The upper one clocked her in the face while the lower one hit her gut, knocking her back. Chun Li didn't stay fazed for long, using the momentum of being hit above her center of gravity to spin her legs up and catch them in Simon's armpits and knocking him upwards. The resulting move left Simon recoiling in the air as Chun Li pulled her hands back and then snapped her whole body forward, tapping into another of her energy attacks.

"Kikoushou!" the detective cried as a massive sphere of blue energy erupted from her hands around both her and Simon. "This is it for you!"

"Not today!" Simon yelled back as he fell to the ground, flinging his left arm in front of him. _Hope this works… well…_ "CHAOS GAUNTLET TECH!" His left arm flared up with a blue aura as the blast was driven off.

If floating above the ground had caused Chun Li to be reminded of that red-clad bastard, flinging up his left arm in a defensive gesture had been the final straw.

"YOU **ARE** BISON!" she screamed as she lunged forward, letting the desire to kill the man responsible for her father's death spring up again. "JUST DIE!"

* * *

"Interesting," Gouki muttered as he viewed the fight from a long-distance vantagepoint. "He fights not to win or to kill… but to _survive_?" The master of the Satsu no Hadou knew full well of the Killing Intent… but a _Survival_ Intent?

"Amazing creature, is he not?" said a voice behind him as he turned to see… Oro? That old man was more interested in watching the fight than battling his rival, and the fight itself was seemingly turning into a stalemate. Simon was able to block, dodge, or withstand most of the now-infuriated Chu Li's attacks, but could not find a critical opening point to actually fight back. "He may actually hold more potential than Ryu."

"Then he is still unable to defeat me," Gouki stated, only to hear the old man laugh.

"He holds a power that makes worlds shake. And I expect that he will give you difficulty in your next fight."

"You mean I will fight him next?" Gouki asked.

"If he wins this fight. Which he will."

* * *

"Excuse me, are you people that woman's friends here?" asked a young woman in a white robe as Ryu, Ken, and Cammy looked up to see her.

"And if we are?" Ken asked, "Aren't you that Simon character's girlfriend or something?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," Blade answered truthfully. "I'm just saying here Simon isn't a bad guy. You think he's a murderer and to be honest, yes. He's killed people. But he didn't kill Bulleta last round, and I'm confident he'll go through this whole tournament without killing anybody. He kills in the name of self-defense, no other reason."

Ryu looked back to the fight, wondering just _what_ Simon was trying to do in that fight. Win? Calm down Chun Li? What exactly was he trying to do in playing defense the whole time?

* * *

_Almost time_, Simon thought as he saw Chun Li fly at him like a propeller. _Perfect!_ As the woman's powerful legs reached him, Simon flung his vertical arms into her horizontal attack. The resulting impact knocked Chun Li to the ground immediately as she rolled away from him. "Don't you get it? I'm not the guy you think I am!"

Chun Li ground her teeth as she looked at him. And that stupid lock of blue hair he had on his head. What was the deal with it? "You killed people," she growled. "You're no better than Bison, or Vega, or Baelrog, or any other Shadoloo agent! And that damn Spaniard Vega is out here, with something up his sleeve!"

"So what? I've killed a lot of people. It's not something to be proud of, but if you're talking about those guys at Onio, they were going to kill me! And as to this Vega guy, I'll deal with him when the time comes."

"And the death before your little killing spree at Onio?" Chun Li asked, standing as best she could.

"An accident I was blamed for along with my best friend. And what about him? He helped beat five criminals so you could arrest them! You can't judge somebody negatively just because they're on the wrong side of the law! The law can be bent to fulfill the desires of greed. Wasn't this Bison an example of that? But I promise you: I will not kill a single person here!"

Chun Li almost blacked out from what she thought she saw. Did Simon's skin and hair just turn blue for a second as a thin red visor flashed across his eyes? No… it was gone now.

* * *

"Point number three," Leveda said happily from his own vantage point. "Valor."

* * *

Simon knew instantly he had just committed a valorous act from the very depth of his being, but that didn't mean he was about to just stop fighting against Chu Li. On the contrary, it was time to end this before the poor woman's psyche was injured any more.

Physically attacking looked to be the order of the day, and thankfully he had a strategy, and _boy_, did he love using this one. He charged, hoping his Syken reaction speed would be good enough now to speed up his reflexes.

BAM! Chun Li managed to kick him hard in the gut, causing him to slump. Guess it wasn't good enough. The Taichi fighter followed up with a Kikouken at point blank to Simon's face, but her hands were smashed together by Simon's fists, who then slammed his own fist into Chun Li's.

It was going to work.

"Simon, you treacherous bastard," Miki chuckled as she watched the melee fight erupt now. "Trusting your entire win on an incomplete Excel Drive. Let's just hope your hands and feet hold out."

"What do you mean?" asked Lei-Lei, who was sitting with their friend along with her sister.

"It's pretty much the only strategy for his fighting style, or lack-thereof. He reacts to his opponent's attack and hits them back with the same thing."

"Like a game of Blood Knuckles with Syken durability?" Lin-Lin asked. Her Darkinarki friend simply nodded. "Wow. Wish we had something like that."

"Let's just hope the detective gives out before Simon does."

* * *

Chun Li winced again as her bruised fists smashed into Simon's, who immediately struck again. She couldn't block without hurting her arms more, but maybe she could parry it…

WHAM! Simon followed through even as his hand was shoved to the side, hitting Chun Li square in the face with his elbow. The woman stumbled backwards before lunging forward again, focusing the bitter dregs of her strength into a single kick…

Which Simon took to the side of his face, eliciting gasps of shock from the audience. The sounds of cracking only made things worse for the audience until Simon turned his head back to his enemy. "Yow that hurt!" was all Simon had to say as he struck Chun Li back measure for measure. Just as he moved in for the finishing blow, Simon looked her straight in the eye. "I'll take down that Vega bastard. I promise you that." His final punch hit with enough concessive force to knock Chun Li all the way across the arena into the wall. He then walked over and helped the still intact woman out of the rubble. "You okay?"

Chun Li struggled to her feet and then dusted herself off. "You're a criminal, however. I'll have to turn you in."

"Not if I was pardoned!" Simon said… actually _happily_ as he walked away from the now-standing woman. "I'll keep that promise. Don't worry. Once I find out what is going on here, I'm heading back home."

The Chinese woman could only stare at the eighteen year old walking away, wondering what exactly made him tick.

* * *

"And the winner in record time is… DEMITRI MAXIMOFF!" shouted the referee as he looked down at the vampire's opponent, who was lying on the ground, soaked in his own blood. Humanoid demons in the stands were cheering like mad, but it didn't reach Maximoff, who had already walked off back to the interior of the arena.

_Pathetic,_ he thought, _not even worth the strength I'd gain from drinking his blood_. Demitri grit his teeth in frustration. Six rounds of pointless battles, with a three-day break after every two matches! And in the meantime, Anya was controlling his family. And he couldn't even lay a finger on Lillith and getting back at her…

"Demitri!" shouted a female voice as he turned to see Morrigan standing there in her required referee outfit. "We need to talk!"

Demitri scowled at the succubus as he walked by her. "About what?" he asked.

"About you getting revenge on Lillith."

"Coming to defense of your 'sister'?" he asked, stopping and turning to look at his rival.

"Sister, lover, partner, take your pick," Morrigan said casually. "Considering it was Kirin who was responsible for her acts, and therefor, your death, you should be going after Enslade."

"In case you haven't noticed, Kirin Enslade has been dead for ten years," Demitri stated coldly. "If that is all, I'll be leaving." He walked away, cursing the woman.

"But her associates aren't, and they're right here on Earth," Morrigan stated enticingly. That statement caused Demitri to stop and turn around.

"Tell me more, and maybe I'll forget about Lillith's… excursion," Demitri said, interest obviously hanging in his voice.

"It'll come at a price," Morrigan said casually, "And no… _not _sex. I promised myself to stay serious in a situation like this. Lillith's been the only one I've-"

"I get the idea," Demitri said. "What do you want done?"

"Leave Aniar and his friends alone as well," Morrigan was completely serious now as she looked at Demitri in the half-lit hallway. "They want Anya taken down for their own reasons as well, so don't turn your back on reluctant allies."

"You said something about Kirin's associates?" Demitri asked. Morrigan tossed him a dossier. "What's this?"

"Bios on Lowew, Ymu, Dena, and Noed. They will let you know exactly what you're up against. Watch out for Lowew and Dena specifically, considering their unique abilities play off our weaknesses." Demitri merely nodded and slowly walked away until Morrigan called out to him again. "Demitri… thank you."

"About what?" the vampire was hoping not to hear any of Morrigan's typical sexual remarks, and he wasn't disappointed.

"Lillith is very important to me. When this is all over, I'll fight you as many times as you want at my current level of power, without Lillith. I hope that _you_ at least increased your level of strength in the Afterlife. I heard that Simon, Lernan, and Owikamki became extremely powerful during their excursions with death."

Demitri merely nodded again and walked away. "Fight at your strongest, for only then will I truly settle the score with Beliel Aensland."

* * *

_Maybe I'm doing something stupid_, Bulleta thought as she reached up to Miki and Flare's apartment door and knocked on it. After a few moments, that pseudo-vampire, Flare, opened the door.

"Yes?" he asked. "You're that Bulleta girl, right?"

"Watch your mouth, Aniar," Bulleta said, "I just came to speak with Owikamki."

A/N: Before earning a glorious three-day break to recoup, Blade, Miki, and Brian must clash against Lernan's old enemies from Onio. Can the combined efforts of a Champion of Chaos, a skilled Assassin, and the Goddess of Order take out a fifteen-man team powered by vampire blood? Find out next chapter: Guns and Cannons.


	8. Guns and Cannons

A/N: Here we are again, and I'm glad I'm getting lots of hits. Now if I could only get some REVIEWS, I'd be content. I don't own Darkstalkers or Street Fighter. Also, I don't want to get any reviews saying anything like "Ryu and Ken use Shotokan, not Ansatsuken!" because they DON'T USE SHOTOKAN! Capcom had to change it to avoid suggesting that Ryu and Ken, the "good guys" would use a lethal style of martial arts. Go ahead, check Wikipedia.

"I want answers, demon!" snarled the blonde-haired and skinned, one-eyed, red-armored Arc Cyko as he pressed his massive, wavy-bladed broadsword into the creature's body. "What were you talking about, a 'matching set'?" The creature stayed silent, and Arc mercilessly buried his sword into it as light erupted from every opening in the creature's body and it screamed in agony. He looked around him, noting that the quiet meadow road was now saturated with the blood of demons and his entire escort group. But the legendary Paladin had come out on top, even without calling upon his Tempered Soul.

"Cyko!" shouted a voice as the Paladin turned to see a red-haired man with an outfit similar to Lernan's run up, with Enteria Ciercin in tow. "Good to see you're okay!"

"They were merely moths before a flame," Arc said, sweeping his massive sword over the bodies. "I'd have more of a fight against Simon in his Full Human form. But Gurn, why call? These pitiful demons couldn't be the reason, save for the fact Alcemia has been demon-free for over two centuries."

"Yeah, well Enteria filled me in on the details," the Cleric named Gurn said as he waited for the aged Necromancer to catch up to them. "Arc, have you noticed anybody weird lurking around Tolimu lately?"

"Now that you mention it," Arc said, recalling, "There was that _one_ Anya lady who decided to pick up the slack on the Severed Swordsman this year. I was planning on entering; when is it this year?"

Enteria and Gurn looked at Simon's second greatest rival (Brian being his first) with shock on their eyes. They had to catch the swordsman up on _everything_.

* * *

"What do you mean, you don't have time to talk with me?" Bulleta shouted at that damned Darkinarki. She swallowed her pride and came down to talk about what to do, and that stupid Assassin was practically kicking her out of the room!

"Look, I'd love to talk about this," Miki said with irritation in her voice, "But right now we've got planning to do against Thaylin's friends." She finished forcing Bulleta out of the room and sighed. "Alright. Is there a museum here of some sort?"

Bulleta, not knowing where this discussion was going, nodded. "Yeah. They're having a Greek exhibit right now."

The fiery-haired, but usually cool-headed teenager smiled. "Great. Two tickets. And be sure to catch our fight. You might pick a thing or two up."

The door was shut, leaving Bulleta standing there confused.

"She's never going to change from being that," said a voice as the twenty-two year old girl turned and saw Gallon standing there casually. His entire appearance was only weakened by the fact he was still furry. "Honestly, who would?"

"What, you're on the Bitch's side? It's like she only has one mode: professional ass," Bulleta said as she started walking away.

She honestly did not expect Gallon to erupt into a massive fit of laughter. After getting through the majority of the laughing, Gallon looked up to see Bulleta standing there completely confused. "I once told her being arrogant is perfectly alright, provided you have the bite to back up your bark. Considering she's able to kill people in a single move and not even worry about stealth, I think she's fulfilled the necessary amount of bite. Besides, it's not like she acts like that all the time."

"But she acts like that almost all the time! She's like the world's biggest anti-bimbo!" Bulleta stormed off, walked into her room, closed the door, and found the most durable thing she could. After shooting it sufficiently, the woman fell onto the bed and sighed.

Damn Owikamki… she might owe her something for helping stop Kirin, but seriously! What did Donovan get from their little fight? A few scars on his arms and face! Bulleta, on the other hand, had lost both her forearms, resulting in years of being a second-rate Darkhunter as she was stuck with a pair of prosthetics. Eventually she had managed to manipulate her Chi -with some help from Donovan- into generating elemental guns, and her fame resurfaced as she formed a strange bond with her new guns. They were like an extension of her in so many ways… like an extension of her body.

And then, just one day ago, she had been utterly humiliated against Simon Tyer, Miki's student of sorts. Even with her guns and advanced tactics, some teenage punk who was supposedly terrible without a sword in his hands had bested her.

What the hell, she'd buy those tickets. She could use a laugh.

* * *

"Anyways…" Miki said as she looked over to her three teammates as she closed the door. "What are we actually going to do against Team Onio?"

"A bunch of vampires…" Flare said as he wondered. "Blade, couldn't you do something about that?" The Oracle shook her head.

"Being a Vampire really has nothing about Life or Death specifically, so the Sage's Stone doesn't have much sway over it, especially in its bracelet form…" Blade smiled, however, "But maybe I could go Necromancer on -"

"Won't work," Simon said. "Anya would expect that, and make the guys just non-Undead enough that you can't control them like that."

"But what if she would expect that we expected that?" Brian asked, more out of humor than anything else, as he watched his best friend and rival's mind twist and contort out of control in the classic "But what if she knew that I knew…" gimmick. He then turned back to Miki and Blade as a thought popped up into his head. "Could we… Shadow Conversion them?" He looked over to Flare and his long knife.

"Impossible," Flare said. "If I were to go after them _before_ the match, then Anya will call foul and probably disqualify all of us. We can't use it during the fight, and using it after wouldn't do any good."

"You're on to something, though," Miki said, once again calling upon her experiences in life. "Could we endow some of our Gen and Chi attacks with the powers of the Subtle Edge? Shadow Conversions would be easier."

"Yeah!" Simon said, standing up, "The Subtle Edge can lend some of its power to other weapons! I mean, I used it once with the Saber, and then there was what Blaze did ten years ago!"

"Well then, I think we have our plan," Blade said, walking into the room she and Simon shared and grabbing out one of her combat outfits. "Just hope those guys are actually worth the actual fight. Now, Flare," she said, turning to the king of Aniar, "What was with this team name? We're in the middle of a serious situation and you decide to poke fun of us!" Brian and Miki also looked over at their friend, who noticed Simon was ducking out of the room.

"I'd love to help, but I think Gallon and Donovan just called me," Simon lied as he ran away madly.

* * *

"And the winner is…" Lillith announced glumly, "Team Edalsne." She watched as Kirin Enslade's four underlings walked away from the writhing and twitching bodies of several Japanese schoolgirls lying on the ground. The succubus was depressed more and more with each encounter she had with them, and they made constant references to how Lillith had betrayed her mistress.

"Here," Lillith said as she helped a girl named Sakura -an aficionado of one of the favorites- get to her feet. The fight had been over well before it started, and the most terrifying scene was when Lowew had completely devastated one of Sakura's friends, Hinata, _just by grabbing hold of her_. Being a succubus, Lillith had actually felt the girl's soul weaken due to Lowew's power.

And Miki had said that Lowew was the weakest of the four.

After helping Sakura get to her feet, Lillith and Morrigan helped the others of her team get up as well, and Lillith breathed a sigh of relief when she felt that Hinata ought to make a full recovery.

"They'll take Enslade's friends down," Morrigan said as the two walked down the hallway, knowing who 'they' were. "They did it before."

"It's not that," Lillith said as she gave Morrigan a sidelong embrace and put her head on Morrigan's shoulder. "I'm just worried… about…" she smiled weakly, "Everything."

* * *

"Whew!" Lei-Lei said as she removed the talisman from her head as it transformed back into her older sister. "Three quality days of R&R!"

"Nice to know! And now we can see if Miki can take out Anya's little soldiers!" Lin-Lin said back as she saw Simon and a bruised and battered Flare walk up to them in their casual outfits. "Hey you two!"

"How're you doing?" Simon asked as he helped Flare before his legs gave out. "They've got their evil scheme, patent pending, all set up. _Isn't that right_, _Flare_?"

"Yes," the false-vampire choked out.

"Have we learned our lesson?"

"What lesson?" Lei-Lei asked.

"Never piss-off a Champion of Chaos, the Goddess of Order, and your girlfriend." Flare said.

* * *

"Kaga, any luck locating a user of the Solar Branding technique?" asked Anya as she watched Team Guns & Roses and Onio spread out on the battlefield.

"None, although our Alcemian operative is currently in position. You _do_ know, however,it is likely that Owikamki has come up with means of defeating Thaylin's friends, correct?" Kaga asked as he walked to her side and bowed.

"Of course. Who do you think they'll be fighting _next_ round? Besides, evolution is all about the weak being thinned out."

* * *

"Fancy meeting you here," Miki said as she noticed that Morrigan was the referee for the current match. "Going to wait until the men get all sweaty and make your move?"

Morrigan smiled in her usual manner. "Please, we've been over this a dozen times. Now clam up before I disqualify you."

"Certainly," the Darkinarki responded as she, Brian, and Blade all fired up their respective soul-flames. (Black, yellow, and half dark purple and the other half orange)"Just be sure to stay out of the blast radius. This might get gruesome."

Morrigan quickly complied, taking to the skies as Thaylin's friends charged the three.

"How're you doing, Brian?" asked one of the more wiry fighters smirked sadistically. "You think you're so good with you Cleric and Gunslinger training, right? Anya's bridged that gap!"

Brian merely smiled. "I could take down, what, _six_ of you guys two years ago? And that was before kicking ass on Alcemia!" Without waiting for a response, he charged the group, kicked two of the fighters away and leapt after them. The others weren't able to offer assistance, due to the timely intervention of his two female friends.

_Is this all the strength you can muster, Anya?_ Blade thought as she once again summoned up her Dracostaff replacement: a pair of bony staffs. She impaled two of the vampires on them and turned to face her next three. Miki was doing okay, and Brian was on _fire_. Apparently, Bulleta's Gun Buddy move was good enough he decided to make his own.

As the fourth and fifth vampires attacked her, Miki calmly Chrono-Bended to give her the precious seconds to duck out of a flurry of punches and actually knocked the fists into their faces. "So seriously," she asked, "What is Anya planning?"

"Like we'd -oof- tell you?" grunted number five as his comrade was knocked down and stabbed in the gut. "You're the one that caused so much trouble in Makai ten years ago, right? Well now it's -" The fighter never finished.

"Never flap your mouth in a fight," Miki said as the teenager fell to the ground, unconscious. "One good punch to your jaw while it's open, and you end up pinching off nerves to your brain, resulting in a blackout." She saw that Blade had already trapped down her five, and Brian had apparently combined Bulleta's Gun Buddies and grappling guns into a unique means of imprisonment. "Are we ready?"

"Hell yeah!" Blade said, summoning up a massive earthy pillar in the middle of the arena to the gasps of onlookers. "All yours!"

Brian and Miki both jumped up into the air, the Darkinarki slowing her descent with gravity manipulation while Brian called upon one of his favorite attacks, and also his most famous, but with a new twist.

"Shadow…" Brian chanted quietly as he fell to the pillar, "Anti… Necro… God… **_CANNON!_**" A massive black beam shot out of his fingers, coating the pillar in a black aura. He quickly flew out the way, letting Miki finish the combo.

_Time to dust off an old chestnut_, Miki thought as shot down like a bullet, her right arm crackling with energy of the void. _My good friend, the Singularity Fist_. The all-or-nothing punch slammed into the pillar's exact core as Miki continued altering her speed, using perfect precision as the various pieces of the pillar cracked and exploded, slicing through the fifteen members of Team Onio and hopefully severing their vampiric nature due to the powers of the Subtle Edge, which had been partially transferred to Brian's Chi.

"Yo… Morriagn!" Owikamki shouted as she collapsed onto her hands and knees and caught her breath. "I think we just won this fight!"

Morrigan smiled. Anya had just lost her main troop. "And the winner is," the succubus announced happily, "Team Guns and Ro-"

"Don't… count us out yet…" came an unearthly voice as fourteen of the fighters struggled to their feet. Brian and Blade quickly noticed they were slowly transitioning from human into… something else.

* * *

"Owikamki…" Anya said as she viewed the fight with great interest, "Pure brilliance… but not enough."

She had heard stories of the dreaded Singularity Fist, the attack that had propelled the nine-year-old Darkinarki to an infamous position when it killed the Makai High-Noble, Ed Funechika.

Three times Miki had used that attack, they had said. Although the second time, against a simulated Pyron, had worked less-than-as-hoped-for, that couldn't be helped against a plasma being. The third time, against the Kirin-controlled Lillith, had been somewhere in between.

Whatever the case, it was over now. Two on fourteen was not good odds… for them. And even if Miki, Lernan, and Longfellow succeeded, well... there were other things for them to worry about.

* * *

"Alright Brian, take them down," Simon said as he watched the battle unfold now. Blade had opted now for twin bony rapiers rather than spears and Miki had taken a seat back to let her stronger teammates pick up the slack. His grey eyes focused on Brian as he generated a revolver and loaded into it six black bullets.

"What're those for?" asked Lei-Lei. "Shouldn't he use his cannon-thing again?"

"If it didn't work the first time, then it won't work the second," her sister answered. "But what's with the bullets?"

Flare and Simon both smiled. "It's a little something that scares even us."

* * *

"Hope you guys like lollipops," Brian said as he calmly spun his gun in his hand, not at all worried as he and Blade were surrounded by the fourteen Onio fighters. The one Miki had knocked out still hadn't come around. The gunslinger looked back at his tired friend, taking a brief moment to truly smile from happiness considering she was on her feet.

"Why's that, Lernan?" asked one. Brian turned back to the group.

"I made you a bunch of dum-dums." Brian quickly pointed the gun at six random enemies and pulled the trigger each time, blowing out entire chunks of their bodies. Unconscious or dead, he and Blade didn't care as they charged the other eight, fighting in two very different, but effective styles.

_Was this…_ Miki thought as she fell to her knees again from fatigue, _What that logbook meant? Is this how I'm just a piece of deadweight?_ "Damn."

"Damn is right, girl," came a voice behind her as Miki suddenly felt herself get grabbed from behind. How the hell did she let one of those guys sneak up on her? "Hey, Lernan! You better stop before your friend here gets hurt!"

Brian and Blade turned from the bodies of the seven vampires, now on the ground and barely twitching, to see the last one holding Miki around the waist, binding her arms, and around her throat. Brian was gritting his teeth as he let his gun vanish.

"Leave her out of this," Brian said as glared at the jock, shaking his head as Blade subtly moved her hands up. A Rising Fire or Earth Pillar was too dangerous for the situation. He looked up at the bleachers. Simon and Flare were almost flipping out, requiring Lei-Lei, Anita, Donovan, and Gallon from running into the match.

"What's the matter, Cleric-boy? Afraid Aniar's girlfriend might become more vampire that he is?" His finger traced along Miki's jugular, but if Owikamki was scared, she was doing a good job hiding it. "See, the beauty of this is that you could probably blast me before I sink me teeth into her but… what would happen if my head fell the wrong way and I broke the skin? A _very _nasty mess, wouldn't you say?"

"Stop it," Blade growled as she clenched her fists. She'd have to be close for the Sage's Bracelet's magic to work… and there was only so much of a miracle it could do…

* * *

"Take your time, Miki," Leveda said calmly as he watched the fight. "He's toying with the others… giving you the time you need."

* * *

_Just focus, Miki_, she thought as that fang slowly slid along her jugular. _You can come up with a style to combat this… okay… the vampire's strategy is to get to your blood… sooo…_ "Shoot, dammit," Miki said to her friends calmly.

"That desperate?" asked the demon, grinning. "Well then…"

He sank his teeth into her neck as a fluid spurted everywhere…

…except it was black and hardened almost instantly rather than red. The moment of shock gave Miki the opportunity to kick up into the vampire's groin with serious inertia behind it. That was followed up by a swift elbow to the gut, knocking the creature away far enough that it caught a massive dragon-faced black beam fired by Blade and a blast of electrical shrapnel from Brian's Lightning Scatter shotgun, knocking him out of the ring.

"I think…" Miki said as she completely collapsed, "That's game, Morrigan."

* * *

Flare and Simon immediately sprang down to the arena to check up on Miki as Morrigan also ran over to her.

"_Meek_!" Flare shouted as he helped her stand up again… noticing her change in appearance.

The Darkinarki looked about the same, save for the fact of long thin lines of black apparently underneath her skin and also a serious gash in her neck that was dripping with obsidian. Miki was smiling, however.

"Stream-style," she said plainly, "Put obsidian… right above my veins, so when you bite, you get it instead of blood." She slumped against Flare, silently thanking the fact that the cloth apparel Flare was wearing was a lot warmer than his traditional chain mail before falling asleep.

* * *

Donovan, Anita, Gallon, Lei-Lei, and Lin-Lin were all waiting outside of the Alcemians' apartment when Miki stepped out under the support of Flare. Save for the fact she was still pretty tired, the assassin showed no worse signs of injury, spiritual or otherwise.

"Last time I do anything like that," she said with a smirk on her face as she looked at her friends. "Just wish I knew why Team Onio wasn't effected by the Shadow Conversion move."

Everyone looked at Anita, wondering if the Light Savior knew anything about it. "On Overdrive… perhaps."

"Overdrive?" asked Flare, "Like going Berserker or something like that?" Anita nodded.

"I'm betting they poured all their strength into maintaining their Maximoff endowment," she continued, "After losing focus on that, they would revert back completely."

"Focus and will?" Miki asked, "Don't those two Ansatsuken fighters, Ryu and Ken, use something like that?"

Donovan answered. "Yes, but I doubt we have anything to worry from them. They may be strong, even by Makai standards, but they'd never side with Anya."

* * *

_About time, old man,_ thought Gouki as he watched the aged body of Oro fail against the masked Spaniard he was fighting. But something was wrong, and the master of the Satsu No Hadou knew it as he watched the last fight of the day.

Gouki had seen Vega fight before, plenty of times before. But never this… destructive. Even without his trademark claw, the masked man was bounding across the arena without any difficulty, and Oro was slowly (albeit at a pace that seemed almost negligible) tiring out.

And then… it was over. The master of bullfighting and ninjitsu had somehow ran at a speed that shocked even Gouki, and the Oro's head rolled of his body to the ground. That could only be done with his claw… but where was it?

Whatever the case, Gouki had more to worry about. Like testing Simon Tyer in their match in three days…

A/N: With three days to recoup, Miki decides to (gasp!) take it easy. Of course, she has a promise to keep with the trigger-happy Bulleta to worry about and also further investigations of the tournament. And just because _she's_ taking it easy, doesn't mean everybody else is in Moment's Reprieve.


	9. Moment's Reprieve

A/N: I don't own Darkstalkers or Streetfighter. Also, the Christian points I bring up are just opinion. To be honest, I find nothing wrong with the religion, or any religion for that matter.

Bulleta was gritting her teeth as she stood outside the museum, waiting for when Miki would get off her lousy, Obsidian-filled ass and arrive. "Probably not going to show up anyways…" she muttered, sitting down on the steps in a huffy manner.

Here she was, humoring the woman that had crippled her, and Miki was probably laughing maniacally back in her apartment room with Flare.

_Stupid Owikamki… thinks she's all great when she takes away what people value the most. In a past life, I bet she picked the legs off of ants and trapped them under a magnifying lens…

* * *

_

_Stupid Miki… thinks she's so great since she locks me out of my room and won't give the key back until I do this for her. Who does she think she is, some blasted Matchmaker?_ thought Brian as he grimaced. _'But you're the only one without a previous engagement!'_ _Give me a break!_

The gunner walked up to Bulleta, seeing she was wearing a red T-shirt and blue jeans… which was a tad less conspicuous than his all-white casual apparel. After a moment, Bulleta looked up and answered. "Oh. Too busy for Owikamki to come herself?"

"Something like that," Brian said as he started walking up to the doors. "Besides, she doesn't know much Earth history, and I was a history major at Onio. Tickets?"

Bulleta handed him one of the two she had bought and flashed the other by the attendant. "History major?"

"It's open to interpretation, so you can BS your way through as long as you have the evidence," Brian chuckled. "Now which way to the Grecian exhibit?"

Bulleta pointed over to the left, and the two walked in silence past several impressive pieces of artwork, finally reaching a bust of Pallas Athena, in which Brian grinned as his eyes looked down to her midsection.

"She's a piece of stone, dipweed," Bulleta said.

"Not that, the shield."

"A snake's on it. What about it?" Bulleta was seriously wondering where this was going.

"Just an example of dualism. Did you know the snake was thought by many early groups to be the symbol of Life?"

"And also responsible for kicking humans out of Eden?" Bulleta pointed out. "Snakes are despicable creatures, if you ask me."

"Do you really think that the early Christians would have made the snake specifically give Adam and Eve the apple if it weren't for the fact it was the symbol of the Goddess of Wisdom in Greece?"

"Well-" Bulleta said, hating the man four years her junior each moment that went by.

"Or the fact that demons are specifically called demons if it weren't for the fact is was an act to undermine the Greek concept of daemons, which could do acts of both good _or_ evil? Or the fact the traditional 'goat-man' we use to symbolize the devil is based off the pagan god of fertility?"

"What the hell are you trying to do?" Bulleta growled, "Convert me to worshipping your friend of yours? I've heard you call her the Goddess of Order what, like a billion times? What she gonna do, smote me?"

Brian furrowed his brow as he looked at Bulleta, and his voice clearly held agitation. "A god's duty isn't to make people do things. It's to have people find the strength in themselves to do those things. Besides, Blade just ended up becoming a god since she was the most eligible candidate on Alcemia... and even then, it's a figurehead title. You'd be surprised how-"

He never got any farther, because Bulleta slapped him across the face and stormed out.

* * *

"Are you sure that they're located there?" Anya asked as Kaga read off the report for the hotel.

"I am sure. I assume I will be speaking for you-" Kaga started, but quieted when Anya rose her hand.

"No. I will not have Enslade's former associates ruin my plan. Kaga, I will expect you, however, to keep an eye on the Darkinarki."

"You mean Miki Owikamki?" Kaga asked as Anya walked away from him. Anya stopped and shook her head.

"No. We'll know where she is going. Look after the one that stopped one of our shipments, Leveda. If you can pin him down, kill him."

"Gladly. And Thaylin?" Kaga gestured over to the teenager, resting peacefully inside of a coffin.

"Let him rest. I still have a plan for him."

* * *

"Sorry about getting rung out last round," said a German female as she slumped down in an embarrassed manner. "I'm more of a techie than a fighter."

"It's okay Marz," Cammy said as she looked at the next round's brackets. "Thirteen is an unlucky number, anyways. And at the very least…" she looked the girl in the eyes and smiled, "All the other teams are down to at _least_ five members, so we should be fine!"

"And we've still got Cammy, Juni, and Juli!" Pointed out a Russian woman with a similar appearance to Cammy named Decapre. "They're the ones that excel with unarmed combat, so all we have nothing to worry about!"

Marz smiled weakly, "Thanks. And I'll try to drop a line with Chun Li and see how that investigation is going on Vega and that new Psycho Drive."

A masculine voice pierced the locker room as the thirteen young women looked towards the entrance to see…_him_. Vega was just standing there, leaning against a wall, soaking in the sight of the women in front of him.

"What do you want, Vega?" asked Cammy as she stood up along with her friends.

The blonde-haired man smiled as the women drew their respective weapons on him. "Guns, swords, nunchuku, a spear, a quarterstaff, and two hatchets. You are all… such poetry in motion." He reached out, and Cammy could almost feel his hand glide across her face, despite the fact he was a good five feet away. "Just be good little dolls, and we'll be together in just a few days." He turned and walked away, slowly and in just the way to egg them into attacking.

"You felt that?" asked Aprile, their medic. It had been so long since they felt anything like it before…

"Psycho Power," all thirteen said in unison.

* * *

_Why the Hell am I even doing this?_ Brian thought as he walked down the street, trying to locate his 'date'. _Simon and the rest are probably just sitting down at a coffee shop, drinking things to their hearts' content. I bet- _he chanced a glance behind him. Slicked-back blonde hair and a red suit? _Dammit! Just my luck… Noed's stalking me!_ He kept walking forward, forming a _very_ small derringer in his hand, just in case. _Hope he still likes those Chaos Bullets…_

Brian turned the corner, and noticed Bulleta was walking into a hotel room. Great. He walked after her, noticing that Noed was still on his trail. The Cleric walked into the building and immediately took off running before the red-clad man could notice him.

Brian ran up two sets of stairs on Bulleta's trail, noticing that Noed was running after him now as well. There… he could get to her in just a few seconds now.

"Shut up and stay still," Brian hissed as he tackled Bulleta, kicked open a door, and shut it just as he pursuer finished walking up the stairs. He covered the slightly smaller woman's mouth with one hand as he reformed his smaller handgun into a sawed-off shotgun, flipping it open and reloading it with his free hand.

Noed's steps echoed through the hallway as he walked down it, whistling.

"Lernan…" Noed called out in a sincere manner, "Would you mind coming out settling our little score. Last I checked, you only beat me due to a timely invented new move." Nothing… time to take it up a notch. "Miss Hood, you should know some things about your alleged savior…"

"Whatever he says," Brian whispered into Bulleta's ear as quietly as possible, "He's lying. For your own good, just stay quiet."

Noed walked right up to the doorway Brian was hiding behind and smiled. "He's a rapist, and not even the merciful kind. No… he'd toy with you, make himself try to be the hero of the situation. He's holding onto you right now… isn't he? Covering your mouth up with one hand, a gun in his other. You have more to fear from him than me. Just be a nice girl and step out." Nothing. Noed tried the doorknob, and found the door unlocked. "Last chance girl, because Lernan might just take your arms at the shoulders. How would that feel? You talentless little bitch."

The last lines were starting to rile Bulleta up, and she was forming a gun in her own hands.

"Couldn't even kill Owikamki when she was right in front of you and stuck to a wall. You failed to kill her… _twice_. What a shame…" Noed started opening the door, but stopped as he heard somebody walk up the stairs. "Very well then. Feel free to prove me wrong any time you want." Noed's steps echoed down the hallway as he walked away, and after waiting a good ten minutes, the two gunners stepped out and looked around.

"I could've taken him down myself, you know," Bulleta said harshly as she walked away.

"No you couldn't have. He was second-in-command for Kirin," Brian said plainly, "I barely beat him as it was a year ago, and I didn't want you to get in the crossfire." He started walking away, but finally sighed and turned around to see her standing there. "Okay, it's obvious we don't get along, so let's agree to disagree on things and just vent some frustration down at a shooting range or arcade or something. Sound good?"

"If you insist," Bulleta said. If anything, Lernan seemed like he didn't want her to get hurt, and if Noed was after her, who else was?

* * *

"It's just… I don't know," Bulleta said as she landed shot after shot at a target in an arcade game. "You live your life, a top Darkhunter before your even thirteen, and bam! You lose your forearms and everything goes to Hell, despite the fact you help save the day against of horde of soul-sucking bees."

Brian grinned as he also helped gun down a giant lizard-creature. "Let me tell you a little story about one of my first big fights on Alcemia, and maybe you'll look at this from a different perspective."

"Do I have a choice?"

"Nope," Brian said cheerfully as he recalled the events of defeating the mighty Supreme Arch-Cleric Guarno. "So Simon and I are fighting this guy, and even with my guns, and Simon's moves, the guy is kicking our asses."

"He was beating Simon apart? Jeez, I probably wouldn't stand a chance against him then," Bulleta's voice actually held concern as she continued listening.

"Well Simon and I were a lot weaker back then," Brian continued, landing headshot after headshot. "I mean, Miki was still a lot stronger than us back then, unlike now. Anyways, Simon tries powering up this move that gathers the heat of the surrounding area into a super-powerful blast at the same time that Guarno's powering up this white laser move.

"Simon hit first," Brian continued, "but Guarno survived the attack and shot back with this move called the Anti-Necro God Cannon, the move I tried at the tournament round yesterday. Now I managed to shove him out of the way, and Guarno ends up shooting me straight through the head for interfering with the fight."

"You mean you _died?_" Bulleta asked incredulously, "But you're standing right here!"

"Let me finish the story. Okay, so Simon gets really angry with this, and taps into all seven emotions of the Excel Drive at the same time and turns into a Full Syken. He starts beating up on Guarno until Guarno somehow powers up even further so with every cell in his body that dies, he gets even stronger. Even when Simon managed to stab him through the heart, the guy was still alive."

"Wow. Never went after anything like that, but… could he be burned? He can't rewrite the laws of physics, so fire _should_ work."

Brian looked over at Bulleta for a period of time long enough for him actually to get hit in the shooter game they were playing. "Wow. Never thought somebody else would come up with that, not even Simon got that idea. Miki and Blade eventually found him, and Owikamki came up with the same plan after some serious planning, and after a bit of struggling, Blade and Simon both use their fire moves and manage to burn up every little bit of Guarno, taking the guy down."

"But what about you?" Bulleta asked, "You were dead!"

"That's certainly true, but my whole adventure on Alcemia is rather long, and I'm cutting corners on what I just told you anyways. If you want, though, we can spend the day together and I'll tell you. Who knows? We might go to some gun shows, might have a duel, sound good?"

One thought remained in Bulleta's mind that made her feel a lot better. _Owikamki came up with the same plan after **some serious planning**_. Nice to know. "I'd like that."

* * *

_Feels great to take it easy,_ Miki thought as she just rested alongside Flare for a midday nap. Considering their genetic differences were so minute, the Darkinarki wasn't worried about anatomical problems when it came to 'that time', but for the moment, she was fine with just spending time with Flare. True, there was still whatever Anya was planning, whatever Noed was planning, and whatever anyone else was planning for this tournament, but that could wait for now.

Blade had apparently convinced Simon to a fencing match up on the rooftops, Anita and the rest were investigating anything going on, and Morrigan and Lillith had decided to go for a change of scenery. The two succubae, however, had promised to "clean up after themselves" and go after nobody of even remotely near the city, and Miki had left it at that.

A quiet knock at the door broke her rest and Miki and Flare both slowly got to their feet. "Who would that be?" Flare asked, opening the door and looking out. The pseudo-vampire looked down the hallway, both ways… and nobody was there. "Weird."

* * *

"Why are they holding back so much?" Lei-Lei asked her sister as both Simon and Blade each struck at each other with one of Blade's rapiers. Their left hands were tied behind their backs, however, and save for their ignited souls, they looked to be just two people enjoying a good fencing match.

"I've been over this a billion times!" Blade laughed as she managed to avoid a slash by Simon so it barely nicked her robes. "It's a great challenge!"

Simon showed far less enthusiasm for the battle, but hey. Back when she was an Oracle, she relished fighting due to the idea that you couldn't be _born_ a good fighter. Your strength, skill, speed… you had to earn it through effort. Besides, relationships were all about give and take, and she had put up with him on his bad days just as much as he had put up with her love of battle. But it wasn't like he was completely serious… there was a small part of him that only Brian and Blade had ever seen. Flare, Miki, Gurn, Wind', Enteria, and ESPECIALLY Arc had never seen the almost naïve and childish him, the Simon that was the polar opposite of his usually untrusting self.

It was hard for him to trust people; everybody he knew on Alcemia knew it. And the fact that more often than not, the people he had trusted completely had ended up hurting him badly. "You just better I hope don't tell these two your _real_ first name, Blade," Simon smiled as a mischievous grin appeared on his face.

Blade broke away from combat and gulped in fear before furrowing her brow. "_You wouldn't dare_," she said, aiming her single sword straight at Simon's heart.

"What do you mean, 'real name'?" Lin-Lin asked, a quizzical look on her face as Blade suddenly began getting very nervous.

"You honestly don't think somebody would name their daughter 'Blade', do you?" Simon asked as his girlfriend's half dark-purple and half-orange soul flame erupted to an even greater level of intensity. "It was her nickname because she's good with her rapiers. Her birth certificate would say-"

"THAT'S IT, SIMON TYER!" Blade erupted as the massive release of Chi from her body almost knocked Simon, Lei-Lei, and Lin-Lin off the rooftop. "_YOU SHOULD NOT BE TRIFLING WITH THINGS THAT EVEN **I** DON'T COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND_!" She charged, taking advantage of Simon's non-complete Excel Drive to overpower him, kick him in the gut, and send him shooting up into the air as fiery blasts erupted from the ground under Simon and knocked him up into the air. By the time Blade was done, Simon was still up in the air, but only because he was using his North Wind to slow his fall. Blade, however, looked like a national incident had been averted.

"I thought fire would heal him," Lei-Lei said, looking to Blade for answers.

"Only true fire and manifestations of it. Magic in the shape of fire, but without its properties, will still hurt him," Blade sighed, looking at the frightened Chinese girls. "Don't worry. He's fine."

When Simon finally reached the ground, his grin was even larger. "Well, now you just forced my hand! It's over for you now-"

"Don't say it!" Blade said, now extremely nervous. Simon was on guard for another attack, so it would be out of the question.

"_Thinwhistle_ 'Blade' Longfellow," Simon laughed, pointing at Blade.

Thinwhistle just grumbled quietly before charging again, looking at Simon with nothing but pure malice. But her complete seriousness just made the situation funnier, and she soon ended up just tackling Simon and laughing the loudest.

* * *

As Morrigan and Lillith walked out of a college dormitory building, they were both shivering. Not from the cold, however, and not from any remaining sexual energies, no. Morrigan just looked at Lillith with a look of utter seriousness on her face.

"We _never_ go after a microbiologist ever again." The elder succubus said as they looked for a vantage point to fly back to the tournament headquarters.

Sure, priests and women were one thing… but trying to seduce somebody that had seen some of the grossest things even known to demons… that was something entirely different.

Lillith, however, had more going on her thoughts than Morrigan, mainly concerning Lowew, Ymu, Dena, and Noed. What were they really after? Why had they been reincarnated on Makai rather than Alcemia? What were they waiting for? So many questions, and not enough answers. And then there were the memories… memories of siding with Kirin, turning Morrigan over to her, having sex with Demitri and slowly taking away his soul so that when he tried to obtain the Gift of Chaos it backfired on him… convincing ten little kids to be willing sacrifices to bring Kirin back to life…

The list went on and on, and Lillith finally spoke up about it with Morrigan just as they touched down on inside of their recently purchased penthouse suite. (That sack of platinum that Blaze Aniar had given her was still half-full, and Morrigan had been spending it for the whole ten years)

"Sometimes I wonder how you and I are so related," Morrigan said in a friendly manner as she gave Lillith a sidelong embrace. "You have to look at the end results, Lillith."

"What do you mean?"

"Is Kirin alive today?"

"No, but-"

"Does Owikamki hold any grudge towards you?"

"No, but-"

"Did those kids get safely back to Felicia's orphanage?"

"Yes, but-"

"Do you think, without Kirin's attempt for power, that Zabel, Jedah, and all his Soul-Bees would be _dead_?"

"No, but-"

"Then what are you worried about?" Morrigan cried out, holding Lillith from behind and massaging her shoulders. "Besides, you're doing the right thing now, correct? You're _not_ siding with Anya, you're _not_ offering any assistance to Noed and his people, you _are_ not giving Anita and the rest a reason for not killing us both, and you _are_ keeping an eye out for anybody that might be a threat in the Severed Swordsman! Honestly, for a pair of soul-sucking sex demons, we ought to be nominated for sainthood!"

Lillith smiled. That really was all in the past now.

* * *

_Just a few more days…_ thought Vega as he walked down the dark street, _and the new Psycho Drive will have full power… and everything will be set. The Illuminati are so busy watching to stupid wrestler, Alex, and if that gorgeous Chun Li decides to investigate things further… well, I won't have to go after her. Cammy and the others, well… _A shout knocked him out of thought.

"Vega!" shouted a pair of voices as the killer of Oro turned to see two men standing behind him in combat stances.

"Cammy told us all about you and Psycho Power," Ryu said, barely able to keep back the rage. "And you're going to pay for what you did to Oro."

Vega just smiled as he removed his mask and stared at them. "What, _you_ two are going to stop me? What a joke."

"You sound overconfident," Ken stated, "We can help with that problem."

Vega sighed. "If I do recall, however, Ryu, you only beat Sagat by giving into the Satsu no Hadou. Then you needed the help of Sagat and a _schoolgirl_ to beat Bison, and that time… it wasn't even you that did the finishing blow, it was that fool, Charlie! And then at the second World Warrior tournament…" Vega dropped into his own stance, although his claw was still missing. "You lost to Guile, Ryu, and I believe you lost to the detective woman, Ken. And don't get me started on your blunders at the _third_ World Warrior tournament!"

"What's your point, Vega?" asked Ryu.

"My point, my Ansatsuken fighters," Vega answered, "Is you two never really saved the day against the dark forces of evil. And as for killing Oro, come on! He was pretty old anyways, probably only had ten years left in him."

Before knew it, Ryu and Ken charged, each attacking with their respective fields of expertise. Vega ducked under Ken's Shoryuu Reppa and gracefully spun around a Shinkuu Hadouken, swinging his hand up as Ken was somehow painfully slashed. As Ryu ducked away from Vega's next seemingly invisible slash, he charged again, this time punching at Vega's unprotected face.

Vega bent out of the way, sidestepped Ken as he came shooting forward, and slashed again. This time, however, Ryu and Ken both managed to sidestep where they thought the slash would go, stepped down and managed to pull Vega down, and performed double Shoryuken that caught Vega on the chin.

"You seem interested in insulting our tournament records," Ken said smiling as Vega staggered away, wiping the blood from his mouth, "When yours is even worse."

Many thoughts, however, were going through Vega's head at the moment, and the biggest was why he had foolishly not donned his mask. As the blonde-haired Spaniard prepared to charge when he heard a stern voice behind him.

"You are the one," said the voice as Vega turned and saw… _him_. The man that had killed Bison… the man that had killed Gill… Gouki…

Normally, Vega knew he could take any of these three, even Gouki (with some significant effort), in a one-on-one fight. The implementation of Psycho Power into his fighting style assured that. But against all three of them? Vega didn't want to push his luck.

With a sarcastic bow towards all three, Vega vanished into thin air, leaving Ryu and Ken to turn and look at their master's killer.

"What are you doing here, Gouki?" Ryu asked, clenching his fists. True, Gouki was strong, but he and Ken were not going to back down to him. After all the training they had done… there was no way they would.

"Oro and I had planned a battle to the death in this tournament," Gouki said casually as he walked away, like a mortal fight was nothing wrong. "Vega is responsible for the old man's death, and I will not stand for it. Besides, he stole his power… as weak as you two are, you at least earned yours through effort. I expect to see you two to fight with all your strength when we meet in the tournament. Especially you, Ryu."

Gouki turned, and warped away in his own manner, leaving the two men in their thirties alone.

"Do you think he's serious?" asked Ken as Ryu slowly calmed down.

"Yes," Ryu said, nodding his head. As hard as it was to admit, Gouki was not the true threat here. As evil as he could be, the black-garbed Ansatsuken master would never just walk down a street and kill everyone standing there. "And when we do fight," his angry grimace was replaced with a faint smile, "he will see just how far I've come along."

A/N: I know I haven't put much with the Street Fighter gang in the chapters, and I wanted to make it up. Besides, this was meant to be more of a laid-back chapter. But next chapter… well… Noed and company will make a bid for power, and the revival of a super-charged villain! Find out next time: The Summoning.


	10. The Summoning

A/N: Next chapter, and further thickening of the Street Fighter side of the plot. Boo-yah! Although I make a reference to my "Tales of Alchemia" story, you really _shouldn't_ read it. I wrote it for a bunch of people on Gamefaqs, and not for an audience outside of that specific group. Anyways, I don't own Tales of Symphonia, Street Fighter, or Darkstalkers.

Anya Maximoff smiled as she opened up the door to Noed's apartment, seeing the red-suited man sitting there, reading over a massive, leather-bound book. "Am I interrupting something?"

The man looked up and slowly closed the book. "Not at all. May I ask what the tournament's chief sponsor is doing visiting me, however?" He stood up, a faint white aura flickering around him.

"White soul-flame?" Anya asked calmly, "didn't see that one coming."

"You don't think Balteria Ciercin was the only Cleric that turned to a path of Chaos, did you?" Noed chuckled, spreading his hands. "Where else do you think I got my… unique abilities? I know you did research about me, Anya, but I'm not complaining."

"Unfortunately for you," Anya said, letting her own aura, colored the same as her raven-black dress and hair, spring up, "I have word that you are planning on exacting revenge against Blade Longfellow, Simon Tyer, and Brian Lernan." Her eyes tightened. "Owikamki is also important to me, considering that the remaining five Makai nobles want her blood… among other things."

"Have the assassin," Noed answered, "She might try to kill me for personal reasons, but I'm sure I can leave her on Death's door for you to finish. As for Simon, Blade, and Lernan," Noed's voice held a slight hint of agitation at the last name, "have them. If all goes correctly, they'll still be alive, in a sense, when I'm done with them."

Anya smiled before continuing. "Aniar is also one I wish to kill, along with the Darkstalkers responsible for killing Demitri."

"Dena may have a problem with leaving Flare alive, but I'll do what I can. As for the rest, Dena and my friends don't care for most of Miki's friends here, save for your cousin and Lillith Aensland."

"I can live without Demitri, after all, his death gave me control on our family, and Morrigan's little 'sister' means dirt to me." Anya answered. "So… what exactly _are_ you planning here?" asked Anya as she smiled and letting her vampire fangs show, "Kirin is completely unaffected by Necromancy any more, so you can't try to bring your master back."

"_Former_ master," Noed pointed out. "Dena, Ymu, Lowew, and I have found a someone new to serve, and we're completely prepared for a ritual that will happen…" he checked his watch, "Actually tonight at midnight!" Noed looked back up and then seemingly changed the subject. "Did you know, Anya, that only eight people have ever seen Kirin Enslade die?"

"Oh?"

"Yes. Balteria Ciercin and Guarnig roughly two hundred years ago; Jedah Domah, Lillith Aensland, Demitri Maximoff ten years ago, and then Lernan, Tyer, and Longfellow almost exactly one year and two months ago. Now this is where things get interesting, because all but one of the people in question have died at least once. Now I understand that Demitri's, Brian's, Simon's, and Blade's may have been temporary, but what would happen if the circle was completed?" It was obvious Noed knew what would, but he stayed silent for an extended period of time before finishing. "My master would be brought here once again."

"I will not permit death to come to Simon Tyer," Anya said, intrigued by the plan, but otherwise more concerned with her own scheme. "I _also _have plans for the last of the Syken race, one that involves several 'matching' sets. Are the only people related to your plan those you mentioned, and will Simon die as a result of this ritual?"

"Yes for the first, and no for the second."

"Good. Afterwards, of course, we will have to see who gained more power from our respective rituals," Anya said as she walked away. _And now I wait.

* * *

_

"Wonderful situation Tyer's gotten himself into," Arc said as the yellow skinned man finally was told the last of the details concerning the new tournament. "Knowing him, he'll try to go out of the way to cause problems."

"I've been keeping word with them, however," Enteria stated. "They seem to be doing just fine, and they all made it past the first to matches."

"Good to know," Arc said. "What about you, Gurn? Why didn't you go?"

The red-haired 21-year old shrugged. "Way to dangerous. Besides, you know me."

That was certainly a fact for the poor Cleric. Gurn, although significantly weaker than the others, did have impressive luck at times… which led gambling… which led to being a fangirl magnet. Needless to say, Gurn much rather preferred being on the investigation side of things, although he did play a critical role in defeating Diaben…

"What… you hear that?" Arc asked as he drew his massive broadsword again.

"What?" Enteria asked.

Arc just raised one hand to quiet his associates and looked around again. Too quiet, and his experience against Sacred Assassins had made him question his own shadow's loyalty… something Tyer would do…

Simon and Arc had finally brought to the end an ageless feud between their similar races a year ago, with Simon coming out on top, despite the results of their last battle. Save for the fact Sykens were more far durable than humans and were immune to fire and heat, the Cykens were genetically superior, and the war had been quickly decided in the Cyken's favor. And then came Simon Tyer… only a half-Syken, the epitome of everything wrong in the world, except like a true Paladin, Simon had his own sort of valor. Yeah, it was a selfish valor, but it made him who he was and despite his many actions that a Paladin should oppose, he never seemed perverted in any way.

Arc was the current king of the Cykens, a yellow skinned and haired race of humanoids responsible for the Sykens' near annihilation over the course of a hundred thousand years. That, along with the fact that Simon and Arc had been initially on opposites sides of the Alcemian conflict led to four fights over the course of the year, the first three resulting (by sheer dumb luck, outside assistance, and combining the powers of the Saber of Ectratin and Subtle Edge, in that order) in Simon's victories. The fourth time, in the Severed Swordsman tournament, resulted in a symbolic loss, due to the fact Arc Cyko, the Supreme Arch-Paladin, master of the Tempered Soul, etc, had actually _admitted_ the need for Chaos to exist. And save for that fact, Arc betted Simon would've won their last battle.

But now, Simon was in danger again, and Arc wanted to see just if he _could_ beat the Syken and finally prove, at least to himself, that an even match would result in his victory.

Suddenly, a strange, bull-like humanoid sprang at him from behind and slammed his fists into Arc's back before the Cyken could respond. Everything went black for him as he heard the sounds of scuffling behind him.

* * *

"Tea, boiling hot," Simon requested as he, Blade, Anita, Donovan, Lei-Lei, Lin-Lin, Flare, Gallon, and Miki all sat down at an otherwise unpopulated bar. When the brutally hot drinking was finally given to him, he drank it in one gulp.

"Sore throat?" asked Gallon as he did his best to eat without disgusting anybody. That was probably the only thing he had left to perfect now he was spending his life completely as a werewolf: quality table manners. Not like it mattered though, when you were respected and feared by most demons…

Lei-Lei answered for him. "Not really. Throat damage from Thin-" Blade shot a look of pure hatred at the body of Hsien-Ko, causing her to change her statement, "I mean, _Blade_, beating up on him."

"Guess we know who is in charge of _that_ relation," Gallon answered back, laughing. "On a more serious note, I took the opportunity to talk with Leveda, and Miki, he said to give you these." He tossed a package over to Miki, who started to open it until Gallon said not to. "Said to only open it if something happened to him."

"Isn't he being a little pessimistic?" Donovan asked. "He told us he took down an entire Makai shipping port a few days ago, and the Darkhunter reports state that _did_ happen."

"Sacred Assassins are good when they keep their enemies guessing," Miki said, "They thought they'd manage to kill us off at the last Severed Swordsman with the element of surprise. When they didn't, they had to risk an all-out attack on Aniar." It was obvious Miki held resent for her own race, but she stayed calm as Flare put his hand on her shoulder. "Gurn, Flare, and _Thinwhistle_ here," she took the opportunity to block three quick stabs on Blade's part before continuing, a small smile appearing on her face for a moment. "Helped take down their attack force while everybody else took down the Sacred Assassins on their territory. If it hadn't been for losing their cover, they might have fought a lot more reserved. That's the problem with stealth fighters: they lose their cover, and everything goes to Hell for them."

"But still… we've seen what you can do, Miki," Anita said, "He can't be far away from that level of power."

"If he is, so be it," Miki answered. "We'll find out if he's really intent on improving the image of the Sacred Assassins."

* * *

Ryu just stayed quiet as he sat in the hospital room, holding the unconscious Sakura Kasugano's hand. She'd been like this ever since her team of friends from the Tokyo schools had lost to that "Team Edalsne" three days ago. The doctors had found nothing wrong, and even that one green-haired woman, Morrigan -wasn't it? - had said that Sakura ought to make a full recovery in a few days.

Dammit! Why did this always happen to him? The daughter of Master Gouken, Ryu and Ken's teacher and also Gouki's brother, had gone missing after the first Street Fighter tournament, and every single lead he'd ever looked for ended up dry. Even _Gouki_ had admitted that when he had fought and killed his own brother that Gouken's daughter had been missing when he came to the dojo.

Then there was Rose, who had told Ryu to call upon the power of one's soul to fight, and was a large help for the Ansatsuken fighter to finally and completely reject the Satsu no Hadou. And then Bison beat her, had a portion of his essence put in her, and used that when his body had been destroyed to create a new one for the second World Warrior tournament. When Gouki used the Shun Goku Satsu then, it had killed all of Bison's soul, Rose included.

And now Sakura, who's very soul had been attacked by that mulleted freak. It wasn't right! Who next near him was going to be hurt? Ken? Chun Li? Cammy? Sagat? Guile? Sean? Alex?

And then there was whatever Vega was planning to do with that new Psycho Drive. He hoped Chun Li could take it down on her own.

"Ryu!" came a voice as he turned to see Ken standing there. "I've got _really_ bad news!"

"What is it?" Ryu asked as Ken ran up to him and told him the news he had just found out.

"You know that Simon Tyer guy? The person that beat Chun Li?"

"I've seen him in his two fights so far," Ryu said. The kids seemed tough and a good fighter, in his own random way, but what was this really about?

"Ryu… he's going to fight Gouki next round…" Ken said quietly, closing his eyes in dread.

This was bad. Gouki had refrained from killing his first two opponents due to the fact that killing them would be the waste of perfectly could Chi, but Simon? Who knew how high the red-haired Ansatsuken fighter's expectations would be?

"I'll try to talk him out of it," Ryu said, walking out the door. He looked at Sakura before walking away, and closed his eyes as he heard her murmur something about beating someone name "Karin".Ryu smiled; she always was a fighter.

* * *

"Yeah, and I'll do some warm-up stuff tomorrow," Simon said as he and Blade walked away from the group to their own apartment.

"You had better," Miki said plainly, "You're not up against featherweights this time around."

"Okay," Simon said. "Massive sparring fight against all you guys," he sweeped his hand so he pointed at everybody there, "First thing in the morning." Without saying anything else, he and Blade started heading back to their room while everybody else split up.

"Worried about him?" Gallon asked as Miki smiled and started heading off with Flare.

"Simon? Nah. I've trained him too well."

"Oh really?" Talbain asked, a smile forming. "What's your track record for successful students?"

Flare and Miki both grinned. "Meek here has a perfect record. There's Jedah being good enough with Gen to kill Kirin, Simon and Brian kicking ass on Alcemia, and me."

"Actually there _was_ one other," Miki said sheepishly as she, Flare, and Jon all started walking towards the Darkinarki's room she shared with Flare.

"Who would that be?" Flare asked looking at Gallon with a look that said 'never told me before.'

"Well, it's _really_ complicated, but for whatever reason, Blade got brought to some weird, different dimension place a while back, a little bit after she joined the group."

"Go on," Gallon said, wondering where this was going.

"Well, long story short, this one woman that had two demons, one light and one dark inside of her, ended up getting possessed by the light one and I ended up Astral Projecting and training the dark one to accept who she was to save the day…" Miki said quietly. "Okay, I didn't really do a lot then, but if it weren't for you, Gallon, I probably wouldn't have been any good!"

Gallon just looked at her, his usual laid-back attitude replaced by one of interest and curiosity. "I'm not laughing at you, and neither is Flare. But what did I do to help?"

"This demon in question, her name was 'Senka', had trouble accepting who she was entirely. It was your training to help me accept who I was, Gallon, which let me tutor her."

"Any return trips there?" Gallon asked, feeling proud at the success of one of his own 'students'.

"Well, Blade somehow went back there a while later to let them all know she was okay, but that was really it. And don't think we're going to be running into them here, considering they're in an entirely different _dimension_. The transporters only let you travel through space."

"And you never told any of us about this?" Flare asked incredulously.

"Hey! It really wasn't that important!"

"You two are hopeless," Gallon laughed as he sprang away to check up on Leveda.

* * *

_Wow,_ Bulleta thought as she and Brian walked down to her room that night. _Never knew Owikamki had it rougher than I did last year_.

Elemental beings, precognatives, Kirin, Sacred Assassins, high-powered priests, **_angels_**, the list went on and on. And through it all, Miki had stood her ground, trusting not in magical fortitude or physical strength, but on her trusty Broken Mirror fighting style. Although Bulleta probably would still like to give the assassin a piece of her mind, she did have to admit Miki had gone through worse things that Bulleta imagined.

"And it's not so bad losing to Simon, seriously!" Brian said, causing Bulleta to furrow her brow at the younger man. "You should see what happened to the floozy Simon fought semi-final round at the last Severed Swordsman. Burnt her to a crisp!"

Bulleta joined in with Lernan at the concept. She really like the gunner, she really did. He wasn't arrogant about his power, and he didn't flaunt his muscles. They had even traded notes on different gun techniques, and had a duel which Brian was still crying foul about. (_We agreed to SIX SHOOTERS! That means six bullets, not SEVEN, you little cheat!_)

"So, uh," Brian said, slightly nervous, for some reason, "Do you think Noed or somebody else is going to come after you tonight or something, because… if that's the case-"

"Your not very good at this," Bulleta remarked as she opened up the door to her room and walked in. "If you must for your own masculine reasons," Bulleta laughed, "There's a second bed. Yeah, it's a lot smaller, but I was thinking we could share it…" she arched her eyebrow at the male gunner, who immediately started sweating.

"Yeah well that's good for-" Brian said nervously until he winced and doubled over in pain.

"You okay?" the cradle-robber asked, any signs of anything but concern gone. Brian just stood up and grunted.

"Don't know."

* * *

_Perfect,_ Demitri Maximoff thought as the clock rang eleven thirty at night. Although Anita would no doubt object to him going after a woman in the city, certainly nearly expired blood from a blood bank would be…_permissible._ Of course, considering he was bringing himself down to this was not a good note in his life. But it had been quite a while since he had a good drink…

"You do know that's B-negative, correct?" came a strange voice as Demitri turned to see Gallon and a man wearing a loose white robe that covered much of his face. The only thing Demitri could see was… those inverted eyes like that Owikamki girl had…

"It's necessary for survival," Demitri said calmly, wondering if this Darkinarki had the fighting power that Miki did. If not, then it was likely he could beat both of them. If the man was as strong, well, maybe Demitri could drink something a little fresher.

"Flare Aniar would have something to say about that," Gallon said, grinning.

"But the…" the vampire searched for the right word to deal with Owikamki's lover, "_imposter_ is not here, is he?" Demitri asked nonchalantly. "Now if you would excuse me, I would like some refreshments." Without saying anything else, Demitri jumped back, launched a Chaos Flare into the wall, grabbed what blood packets he could, and was gone.

"Great," Gallon said, "Last thing we need is _two_ high-powered Maximoffs." But Leveda was still looking at the crater.

"What the?" the Sacred Assassin remarked to a baffled Gallon. "It's my eyes. Inverted eyes are better at seeing in the dark."

"What did you see then?" Gallon asked, wondering if Leveda was finally going to show his true colors.

The Darkinarki's expression morphed from one of nervousness into one of shock. "Dammit!" Leveda shouted as he ran after Demitri. "Gallon! Get everybody and get them to Makai, NOW!"

* * *

"What a day," Simon said as he and Blade finally got back to their apartment.

"Are you _really_ going to warm-up for the next fights?" Blade asked innocently, smiling all the while.

"Yeah," Simon answered as he opened the door, "I mean, I _said_ would. Anyways, I'm up against that Gouki fellow next round, right? Anita said he was possibly the strongest human in the tournament, so I've gotta be the best I can be."

Blade couldn't help but let out a long and unrestrained laugh. "I said it before and I'll say it again. Who are you and what've you done with Simon?" Simon and Blade both shared a hearty laugh until Simon's Gift of Chaos bracer's symbol flared to life and they both winced and fell to the ground in pain.

_What the?_ Simon thought as he almost felt like he was being summoned somewhere. He looked over at Blade; whatever was happening to him was also happening to the young woman he loved.

And then… they just vanished…

* * *

_I wonder if Lillith is going to get into the shower any time soon… _Morrigan thought as she finished washing up. The younger half of Morrigan's soul had cheered up to the thought when Morrigan had offered it, and had just headed off to double-check any tournament rulings they'd have to worry about for the next two rounds, but that was a good fifteen minutes ago…

Without knowing what else to do, the succubus reformed her traditional black apparel and stepped out of the shower, instantly dry. "Lillith?" she called out. Nothing. She turned off the water, however, and called out again.

From a distance, Morrigan heard quiet moans, Lillith's.

The queen of Makai charged out instantly, wondering if one of the stronger competitors or possibly one of the other Makai High-nobles had tried to take advantage of her. The position of sexual predator of Makai was already filled, and Morrigan was not going to let somebody else take that position, much less rape her own soul.

The Aensland rounded the corner and found Lillith on the ground, bleeding and in serious pain.

_My god!_ Morrigan thought as she moved to help her little "sister", but before she knew it, Lillith had vanished into thin air.

* * *

"And Lernan makes five," Dena said triumphantly as the gunner was also beamed to a strange environment, only to be knocked unconscious by possibly the most painful backhand in all of history by the bandaged Ymu.

One the ground, knocked out and drained of all possible strength, lay Simon, Blade, Brian, Demitri Maximoff, and Lillith Aensland, with Kirin Enslade's former underlings standing over them. The Makai sky was pitch-black, contrasted by the blood-red mountain spires the four were standing on.

"I say we kill Lernan now," Noed said as he looked down at the gunner turned Cleric. "He was far too much of an inconvenience to us a year ago." He raised his hand up, but it was stopped by Lowew.

"What, and no fun of watching Simon lose all hope of victory again?" the mulleted man asked. "Hell, watching his spirits sink with the death of each of his friends like last year, it almost was compensation for getting killed by a stupid wind elemental!"

Noed growled, but his three comrades were united in their opinion. Looks like he wouldn't have his way with the man that had killed him, _or_ Thinwhistle Longfellow, even though his agreement with Anya would have no repercussions as a result. At least kill Lillith, so that the plan was safeguarded… but no. He'd have to wait.

* * *

_Just a little further!_ Leveda thought as he leapt from building to building, his eyes trained on the penthouse so close now… another few buildings and…

WHAM! The Sacred Assassin was hit mid-flight by something that appeared to be… a chair?

"Fantastic things, these poltergeists are," came an arrogant voice as the Darkinarki male turned to see a man in an all-black tuxedo with slicked-back black hair standing on an antenna. "Of course, I need to use Gen and Chi to manifest them into a physical object."

"And you would be?" the middle-aged Darkinarki asked as he viewed the distance away from Morrigan's penthouse. Not too far away, if he could just stall for a few moments.

But the man wouldn't have anything of it, and reappeared behind Leveda almost instantly (even _with _the aid of Chrono-Bending!) and kicked him in his back. As Leveda turned around again, he grit his teeth. This was going to be tricky…

"My name is Kaga Familiar," the man said, smiling, "And as my last name suggest, I'm not just any demon." Kaga assumed a strange stance that seemed to expose his lower gut, and Leveda charged. He did _not_ have time for Anya's butler. He readied his wrist-blades like Miki would (the girl did have a knack for forming the obsidian into efficient styles) and stabbed, only to have his arm wrapped around by… a snake that had appeared on his side? "Couldn't figure it out, could you?" Kaga asked as he snapped Leveda's arm away and chopped him in the armpit.

"You can summon familiars, correct?" Leveda asked as he ripped the snake off and decapitated it.

"Merely _summon_ them? Goodness no!" Kaga's stare became far more sinister still as he now assumed a different stance. "_I create them. _I give molecules shape and give them life…"

Before Leveda knew it, he was surrounded by a dozen dragons, each ready to rip him to shreds.

A/N: Morrigan leads the Darkstalker crew, Miki, and Flare off to rescue Lillith and the others, facing enemies that desire only for their master's revival. But who does Noed and the rest now serve? Will this master be brought back? Will Leveda defeat Kaga the Familiar Master? And what happens when Lillith pays a visit to the afterlife and comes face-to-face with Kirin Enslade? Find out in Masters, Lords, and Champions.


	11. Masters, Lords, and Champions

A/N: I don't own Darkstalkers or Street Fighter, as said before. But if I did own Street Fighter, I definitely would've made a new canon installment by now. And actually say who won the second World Warrior tournament.

_And that's number twelve!_ thought a fatigued Leveda as he managed to roll under the last of Kaga's dragons and cut its belly open. _Now it's just…_

WHAM! Anya's butler managed to deliver a harsh drop kick that left the Darkinarki spiraling away.

"So much for the staying power of a Sacred Assassin," Kaga laughed as he leapt in the air and sent another kick, only to see Leveda jump away in _two_ directions. While trying to figure out which one was real, Leveda (who had in actuality not moved at all, thanks to light manipulation) launched an uppercut made only more lethal by the blades on his wrist.

But it was not meant to be, because a bird appeared instantly in front of Leveda, took the brunt of the mortal attack, and let Kaga slam his fists into the side of the Sacred Assassin's head.

"Face it," Kaga said, "You can't beat me. Makai did investigations on the extent of a Darkinarki's powers, and you can't win this fight, or even get to Morrigan for whatever reason."

_He doesn't know about the summoning?_ Leveda thought as his mind drifted to what he was trying to actually do. Gallon ought to be able to round everybody up, but it was his job to actually get to Morrigan, since she'd be able to figure out exactly where Demitri, Simon, Brian, Thinwhistle, and Lillith were. _Dammit! And the ability to create life is something only the possessor of the Sage's Stone can do! Something's not right with his ability… but I can't figure it out!_

There was one way out, and it might very well kill him. But if he was going to die, Leveda felt it might be in penance for what his fellow Sacred Assassins did.

"Time to die!" Kaga shouted as he called forth a massive manticore, which snarled and charged, lashing out with its tail.

Leveda was almost out of steam, but he had one last chance to set things right. He pulled out his fist, focusing everything he had into one punch… "SINGULARITY FIST!" the attack struck the creature's tail dead-on, and the cracks and the bones snapping were heard as the entire creature died a very painful death… followed by a massive snapping sound that could be heard through the entire city.

* * *

_What's that about?_ Morrigan thought as she heard the sound outside. She pulled open the window to see that Sacred Assassin… Miki had referred to him as 'Leveda', outside, practically on death's door against Anya's butler.

Morrigan was outside in a flash, her outfit morphing into her traditional outfit.

Leveda looked up and smiled. Just one last thing to do. "The others are waiting for you!" he shouted, "Get to Makai and find out where Lillith is!" Leveda nodded, just before Kaga neatly blasted a fist through the Assassin's body. The Darkinarki slumped down, dead

"Kaga, what the hell is going on here?" Morrigan snarled, her own black aura flaring up. The demon just turned to her.

"He was an enemy of Miss Maximoff. I merely took this opportunity to kill him."

"And what about me?" Morrigan had touched down on the rooftop, debating whether to kill him or not.

"Whatever he was trying to tell you about has nothing to do with Miss Maximoff's plans." Kaga turned and walked away. "You are free to go."

Morrigan stared at him for a moment, fired one full-powered Soul Fist into his back for good measure, and flew off. Lillith was _not_ going to be some plaything of somebody again.

* * *

"Flare, go with Gallon and get everybody else!" Miki shouted as they both slipped on their sturdier outfits. Miki had once again chosen one of her black sleeveless outfits that had chainmail sown inside, this time three layers; while Flare had put on his best suit of mail as well.

"What about you?" the Aniar king asked, pausing for a moment.

Miki looked up at him and answered while nodding her head in the direction of their closet. "We may need it."

"Good point," Flare said, kissing Miki before running out of the room and grabbing a bag of mirror shards. "We'll need these for it to work, anyways."

Miki walked over to the closet, and opened it up. Looks like it was rather lucky she brought the Morte Edge along.

Miki unsheathed the unusually large katar again, this time taking the opportunity to touch the blade. She then snapped it closed again, grabbed a green sash to tie it with around her waist, ran out, shut the door without locking it, and was off like a black and red blur.

But another form slowly moved towards that room, tossing three stones, just like last time.

Tik tik tik! Nothing this time. The khaki-brown young woman walked up to the door and tried it. It was open.

_Insult my way of life, eh?_ Thought Ibuki as she took out a little package. _I'll show her!

* * *

_

"I got here as fast as I could," Anita said as she met up with Miki, Donovan, Lei-Lei (already in her Kyong-Shi form), Flare, and Gallon outside of Miki's apartment complex. "Donovan filled me in on the details."

"Don't count me out," shouted a voice as they all turned to see Bulleta running up to them. "Lernan went MIA too, and I'm not going to lose the one Alcemian I like!"

A shadow fell over the seven as they looked up to see Morrigan landing, forgetting grace in exchange for the haste she felt she needed.

"Owikamki…" the succubus said, looking down and to the side for the moment, "I saw… Leveda killed." She didn't see Miki's reaction, but she could sense a level of shock in the assassin. "He said for us all to get to Makai, and I think I know why."

"Lillith vanished too?" Anita asked, putting the pieces together.

Morrigan nodded as she looked back up, a stern look on her face. "Yes, and I may not hold much sacred, but I rarely, if ever, mess around with someone's relationship. This has gotten me fairly pissed off, and thankfully, I know where Lillith is."

"How so?" Flare asked as the Aensland pointed in the direction of the portal between Makai and Earth.

"When my adoptive father split my soul to avoid Makai's destruction," Morrigan explained on the way, "The part that was Lillith and the base of my soul were… drawn to each other. Jedah had used that to his advantage thirteen years ago, but when we fought, I was stronger and we refused.

"Then ten years ago with… Kirin," Morrigan said as she paused, shocking the entire group there was a serious side to the sex demon, "When she somehow reincarnated Lillith and put the base of my power in her, it was the other way around."

"But after my second scrape against her," Miki implied, "You were in a position to reabsorb her and set things straight."

"Yes, and as you all know," Morrigan said, continuing, "Lillith and I had a clean split, unlike when Beliel divided us. That meant we could break in half and refuse without many penalties, provided one of took my Gen and the other took the Chi. But our fragmented souls would still be attracted to each other…"

"Meaning you'd still draw each other in," Anita interrupted. "And as a result…"

"You know exactly where to find Lillith and hopefully the others," Donovan finished. "It seems once again, we must join forces against a common enemy."

"Weren't we already doing that?" Lei-Lei asked.

* * *

Demitri was the first of the five to wake up, and it was a rather rude awakening as he saw that woman -Dena was her name- bent over and looking at him with an odd look.

"Some sort of magic field to protect you from intense sunlight," Dena stated before kicking Demitri straight in the head, "Interesting. I must find some way of bypassing it."

"Or we could just, I don't know, _kill_ _him_." Noed stated nonchalantly as his three associates just looked at him. "We were lucky enough that Kirin put the revival spell us before her change of heart. It would be unwise to push our chances further."

"Come on, boss!" the mulleted Lowew said as he noticed Lillith was also coming to. "We're stronger than before, and it took Lernan, Tyer, and Longfellow to beat Kirin anyways!"

"Indeed. And those threats are taken care of," Ymu added quietly, kicking Brian in his side. "That summoning spell we used on Simon worked out pretty well, and even cost him the Excel Drive, if only temporary."

"Change… of heart?" Lillith asked as she tried to stand up. But Lowew slammed his fist into her back, knocking her back to the ground.

"You don't know, do you?" he asked, whispering in her ear. "Too bad for you. You would have no idea what kinds of things went through her head when she died. Idealistic…" he slammed his fist again into the young succubus's back, "Shit!"

But one small sensation rippled through Lillith's body that was far different than pain. A desire to go back to the gate… she could feel… herself there.

Lillith would've smiled if it hadn't been for the abuse she was experiencing.

* * *

"Anyone else here that can fly?" Miki asked as she looked around the group, seeing everybody except Morrigan shrug or shake their head. "What the hell were you people doing for ten years!" She cried out.

"Adapting to using prosthetics _you_ forced me with!" Bulleta shot back.

"That way," Morrigan said, pointing over to a massive mountain range and breaking up the argument. "She's in the Devil Mountains. I'll hold them off for as long as I can." Without saying anything else, the green-haired woman flew off, her wings reforming into a jetpack. Apparently, she was not leaving anything to chance.

"Guess that's the way it is," Flare said as he and Miki also kicked off, aided by Bukujutsu and gravity manipulation, respectively. "Get there as soon as possible! We probably can't do this on our own!"

Bulleta, Hsien-Ko, Donovan, Anita, and Gallon all immediately ran as fast as they could. Something dangerous was on the lines here.

* * *

"Miki?" Flare asked as he and the Darkinarki pursued their guide. "Is it just me… or did Morrigan's outfit seem a little-"

"This is not the time," Miki interrupted, but Flare cut her off.

"_Less _revealing?" He finished. "In fact, she's seeming as serious as you are sometimes. Any idea?"

"Possibly," Miki said, now relieved that the pseudo-vampire wasn't letting ideas drift in his head. "This is something serious for her. Lillith's like a little sister to her… or a girlfriend… or something along those lines. It's a little like how I am with Simon and Brian. My parents, Akura and Atesu, both died in the raid to get back the Saber… so those two were almost like to like little brothers. And then Enteria was like a grandfather and-"

"We were like a surrogate family," Flare concluded. "Don't worry… we'll get them back!"

* * *

"It'd midnight," Noed stated. "Enough playing around." The blonde-haired man walked over Lillith and grabbed her by the neck. While smiling, he positioned her over a massive cliff and let out a small chuckle. "Take a look down. The sight might not scare you, but I assure you, even if the drop doesn't, the landing _will_."

Lillith looked down as best she could, and saw a massive, razor-sharp stalagmite jutting up, looking rather lethal. "You don't seem to know much about me, do you?" She coughed out, Noed's gripping tightening slightly.

"Of course, I forgot my manners," Noed said while grinning further. "Dena, Ymu, Lowew? Even her fight with gravity, please."

"Noed, I'm in the middle of a breakthrough in anti-vampire magic!" Dena shouted back, testing a glowing sphere's intensity against Demitri's protective field.

"Relax, I'll do it," Ymu said while walking over. He reached over to Lillith's folded wings…

…And broke them off in two easy motions.

Lillith screamed in agony as two extensions of her body were snapped off like twigs, but it got worse as the bandaged fighter then ripped off the ones on her head.

"Just for good measure," he said. "Okay, Noed. Time to drop her and bring our master back!"

_Dammit!_ Demitri thought in the meantime as Dena's hand-held sun finally reached a setting to breach his protective yellow and orange aura. _This woman has a knack for adding insult to injury… and if I could just have a single moment of peace!_ His hands were still on the blood packet he had stolen. All it would take is one bite and his strength would at least partially return… He may not have personally cared about Lillith or those Alcemians' well being, but he would not let _another_ woman humiliate him further.

"Time to die!" Noed shouted as he dropped the brutalized young woman to the depths.

But a green and black blur came out of nowhere and caught her. "Morrigan?" Lillith asked as she managed to look through the pain.

"That's right," the green-haired woman answered as she kissed Lillith on the forehead as she flew a small distance away from the shocked Noed. "Now why don't we join up and show them what we're capable of." She smiled, and so did Lillith as they moved closer and Morrigan's wings blocked the view of anything else they were doing.

"Surprise surprise!" Miki shouted as she slammed into Noed and Flare rammed Dena, each unsheathing their Blades of Might. "Rematch time!"

"Good!" Ymu said as he let a grey aura erupted and his arm bandages bulged as his arms' muscle mass increased to an incredible degree. "I've wanted to get back at you for our anti-climactic end, Aniar!" He lunged forward and sent a swift punch that Flare barely ducked under. As the man sent another punch, a yellow energy-blast slammed into his side, and Morrigan was standing there, in her traditional "Soul-Fist" stance.

_Wow!_ Miki thought as she readied the unusual sword in her right hand as two thin blades protruded from the top of her left wrist and extended down passed her clenched fist, _Morrigan's power is on level with Kirin's a year ago! She's using both Gen and Chi to sent her level of power over the roof!_

"Lowew!" Noed shouted, "Take care of the captives!" He readied a longsword of his own in time to block Miki's slash as Dena stared down Flare and Morrigan kept Ymu busy.

"Sure," the blue-haired man acknowledged as his hands glowed grey and the grabbed down on Brian, his hands somehow slipping _into_ hisbody and pulling out a ghastly version of himself.

"What the?" Brian's phantom said as he looked up to Lowew. "Oh dammit!"

"Damn is right!" the former Cleric laughed. "The power of the Soul-Drainer strikes again!" But somehow Blade's eyes slowly opened wide, and a ghostly hand reached from her to pull Brian's soul back in. Lowew struggled against the shade for a moment before firing a short blast at Blade, resulting in her soul also being pulled out.

"Tough luck, babe! Your Necromancy won't save you this time!" He pulled them out and flung them away before moving to Simon's comatose body when a stern hand grabbed down on his.

"You may not be Kirin Enslade," Demitri said with nothing but hatred in his voice, "But you'll do!" His cape morphed into a strange drill as he plowed straight into Lowew, sending him spiraling away.

* * *

"You learned your lesson from our last battle," Dena mused as Flare kept his distance, avoiding the woman's glowing hand.

"That your sunlight powers work on even false vampires, yes," Flare answered back as they circled around each other, wondering who would break first. His previous fight had been over in less than a minute, when he charged in only to get a face full of "sunlight", as Dena called it. Although he was technically a human, Flare had enough vampire blood left in him for Dena to use it to kill him by hitting with her Sunlight technique. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

Dena charged, her hand chopping down. Flare bent to the side and landed a decent kick to her side, snapping his leg back so Dena couldn't grab it.

"I see you've also learned some Broken Mirror tricks from Owikamki," Dena said as her yellow Soul-Flame ignited. "I'll have to remedy that problem!" She charged again, avoiding an S-shaped slash from Flare's long knife, and attempted to get part of him into direct contact with her glowing hand, but Flare kicked up dust into her face and landed one harsh jab to a stunned Dena's stomach. The woman returned the favor by tripping up Flare and swinging her fist down again. Flare rolled to the side, slashed down, and cursed as Dena managed to leap away in time.

This was going to take a while.

* * *

Miki grit her teeth as she jumped a series of yellow arrows generated around her by Noed. Normally, she'd just use her gravity manipulation against the chaotic attacks Noed used, knowing that even though the Gift of Chaos wouldn't stop them, her black holes would… except that's exactly how Noed beat her last time. Besides barely being weaker and slower than Kirin Enslade herself, Noed also had the ability to make anything, even pure energy, be considered matter. That might not seem rather powerful…

But when half your fighting strategy had you rely on manipulating energy attacks away, like Miki's (or any Darkinarki's) did, it meant you'd end up killing yourself by breaking a taboo. But this time, Owikamki felt she was doing significantly better than before. Noed didn't have the element of surprise working for him, and she was still able to use her superior level of skill to out-maneuver Noed as the two continued clashing blades.

"Much better," the lead ex-Cleric laughed as countless magic blades materialized and surged towards Miki, who managed to chop them all away. "But you better keep an eye on your back!" He shouted as he slipped behind the Darkinarki and stabbed into her back, the sword only stopped short of being a lethal wound by the protective mesh underneath the fabric.

Miki swung up a bladed elbow to Noed's chest, but the man managed to jump away in time. Miki spun around and lunged again, slashing again, locking blades with Noed as the two struggled on the clifftop.

"I won't lose again, Noed!" Miki snarled, instinctively moving her neck to the side to avoid another laser shot and using the moment to stab into Noed with her bladed left arm. It wasn't a serious wound, but it was a start.

* * *

"So all you have going for you is massive strength and the ability to negate elemental attacks and beings?" Morrigan laughed in an amused manner as she easily and elegantly bent out of the way of every single one of Ymu's punches, giggling as the muscle-bound man's punches failed to even scare her in terms of speed.

What did startle Morrigan, however, was the sharpness of her reflexes. She would dodge almost before Ymu would actually strike, likely exceeding even Syken-level evasive skills. Apparently her own type of "alternative living" with Lillith was like training with weighted clothing, considering she had become accustomed to living without _any_ Gen. As a result, rejoining with Lillith and taking the Chaotic energies into herself had sent her power and speed to a level she never imagined…

And she never felt more graceful. So this was what having power akin to the Cursed Necromancer's did to you.

Morrigan bent over like a bow as Ymu sent a swift kick, swinging her left leg up afterwards to catch Ymu in the groin. _Acceptable losses_, she thought.

_You weren't honestly going to have sex with him?_ asked Lillith's voice from the inside of Morrigan's head. _He tried to kill me!_

_No dear, I was talking about my foot._ _I would never rob you the pleasure of subsuming these fools' souls._ Another punch, another effortless evasion, another attack in return that hit head-on.

_Morrigan, you're so compassionate!

* * *

_

"Too bad your exorcism abilities can't harm me," Demitri grinned as dozens of Chaos Flares shot out and slammed into Lowew. The former Cleric was still on his feet, but it was clear Demitri could defeat the weakest of the four provided he didn't stay close to Lowew for too long and let him rip his soul out.

"Dammit!" Lowew growled as he raised his arms up for protection. "This isn't over, vampire!" Demitri smiled and vanished, leaving Lowew to look around.

"Vampire? No...**I AM KING OF THE VAMPIRES AND LORD OF DARKNESS!**" Demitri howled as he reappeared above Lowew, surging down in his true form with his massive fangs extended for the infinite void of his mouth.

Lowew barely saw it in time, and was only inches away from a torn-out neck as he did his best to hold the more powerful demon at bay with both his hands…

* * *

_It's not supposed to beat this way!_ Noed thought in a shocked manner as he chanced a glance across the battlefield. He and Dena were maintaining their stalemates, but it was only a matter of time before Morrigan stopped toying with Ymu and Lowew was moments away from death. A four on two match would not go in their favor… but perhaps intervention could help, a la Rube Goldberg Machine.

"Anti-Necro God Cannon!" Noed shouted, as the staple Cleric attack shot from his fingers. His target wasn't Miki, considering he expected the Darkinarki to avoid it. But it had another target…

"Flare, look out!" Miki shouted in time for the false vampire to dodge it, but at the cost of letting Dena have a moment of freedom to distract Demitri with her "Sunlight"…

Freeing Lowew up to attack Morrigan from behind and tear Lillith out of her via partial exorcism…

Freeing Ymu up to strike the shocked succubus very hard. Dena immediately found herself fending off two vampires, but was managing to hold them off as Lowew kept a weakened Morrigan busy.

"Let's try this again!" Ymu shouted as he charged, swung a roundhouse punch to trick Lillith into ducking, and then once again tore off her wings and slammed her into the ground. He wouldn't screw this up again.

Morrigan could only look in horror as Ymu threw Lillith down onto the spike like a rag-doll, a sickening sound piercing the entire arena. She then felt a brutal strike against her back, and Lowew smiled as she went down.

"Endgame, Owikamki!" Noed shouted triumphantly.

* * *

"What the?" Lillith asked as she looked around her new surroundings. It was like a massive library… with books making up the walls, floors, and even the _ceiling_. "I remember Ymu attacking me and then…"

"Blackness?" asked a voice Lillith had hoped she never hear again as she turned around. "That's because you're dead, in the Afterlife of Chaotic beings."

Lillith turned, seeing a woman slightly taller than her, with long blonde hair, blue eyes, a white dress, and a grey bracer on her left wrist.

"Hello again, Lillith," Kirin Enslade said, a slight hint of sorrow in her voice.

A/N: Just as things turn sour for Miki, Flare, and Demitri, reinforcements come! But can the new talents of Anita, Donovan, Bulleta, and Hsien-Ko turn the tide against Kirin's former servants? But who exactly are Noed and the rest now serving? Will this master return? And what role will Kirin Enslade play in Lillith's Afterlife adventure? Find out next chapter: Soul Demolition.


	12. Soul Demolition

A/N: Alright! Newest chapter, and more of the Anya plot explored! I don't own Darkstalkers or Street Fighter.

When Arc woke up, he found himself tied up with strange, almost ghostly-like tentacles holding him. His arms were tied above his face, and his armor and sword were missing, leaving him in a cloth tunic.

"Fantastic sword," came a voice as he turned to see that strange, Minotaur-like creature handling his sword. "It actually _absorbs_ other swords into it to make it stronger, at the cost its shape alters with each absorption and that its total weight is that of all the swords that make it up. And it was originally a shamshir?" The demon laughed again for one reason or another.

"Where's Enteria and Gurn?" Arc asked, looking around.

"Oh, them?" said a female voice as Arc turned to see a raven-haired woman standing there in an elegant black dress. "You chivalrous knights are all the same with the whole 'take me instead' gimmick, so I decided to leave them otherwise unhurt back at Ectratin and save time. Know that if they _do_ interfere again, I'll have to kill them."

"Don't you have to worry about a Darkinarki infestation? I heard your 'matching set' project is going down the drain." Arc chuckled before Anya slashed him hard across the face with her hand.

"Kaga has disposed of the Sacred Assassin, and if I'm lucky, Miss Soon-to-be-Aniar will be dead soon as well." Anya answered. "If not, the Makai High Nobles are all willing to take a crack at her."

"It's practically criminal," said the Minotaur. "Xell, Sierra, and I have to wait until the final round to face them, while Gregorio will likely get Owikamki in the semi-finals."

"Taurus," Anya said in a world-wearing voice, "I have compensated you sufficiently with Cyko's sword. A collector such as yourself would no doubt desire such a specimen." Taurus Drey, one of the remaining Makai nobles sighed and walked into the darkness, leaving Arc alone with his captor.

"Like he could use it?" Arc asked before Anya slashed him across the chest this time, red blood streaming down. The female Maximoff then knelt down and took a tentative lick, moaning from the flavor.

"Such a unique composition… I wonder how a Syken would taste."

"You despicable woman," Arc muttered. "Trying to kill the last of a race?"

"Kill?" Anya asked before taking another taste of Arc's blood. "Please, I thought an intelligent man like you would know exactly what I'm planning. After all, one matching set is between Arc Cyko, the holiest of holy Paladins, and Simon Tyer, enemy of Lightbringers, Champion of Chaos, and possessor of the Excel Drive." Anya moved in to bite again, this time Arc's neck, but his skin shimmered for a moment before his yellow skin turned silvery-grey, like metal.

Anya merely smiled as his neck resisted all means of penetration. "You sly dog… I almost forgot you had that 'Tempered Soul' transformation…" she smiled again. "Of course, you are completely exhausted when you revert, correct? And unlike Simon's Full-Syken form, you can't maintain it forever."

The current leader of the Maximoff clan simply sighed, pulled up a chair from the void, and sat in it. "I can wait for hours. Can you?"

* * *

Lillith almost fell to her knees for seeing Kirin Enslade again, despite the fact Kirin had committed no aggressive moments so far. Instead, she just stood there, waiting for Lillith to make the first move.

Finally, Lillith summoned the courage to talk. "I heard from Anita," she started, "That you, for some reason, found peace here."

Kirin nodded. "Yes, and that's why you were brought here." She turned to look at the massive library and sighed. "This was my father's once, or should I say the original. This is just a mental projection of my memories." She walked over to one shelf, picked out a book at random, and read it quietly for a few moments before looking up. "I must've read each book… _dozens_ of times before I was even ten, consumed with the desire to have revenge on the Clerics for destroying my father's organization…"

"That's why you were so powerful," Lillith said, keeping her distance. "With so many spell books, no wonder you were capable of controlling Makai for…"

Kirin just nodded again, knowing what would come next. "I am sorry about that now Lillith, I truly am. It took my death to see what had done."

"Then why did you bring Noed and the rest back!" Lillith shouted, a black aura erupting despite the fact her wings on her back and head were missing.

"Lillith, I didn't just _die_. As soon as Lernan fired the Anti-Necro God Cannon, I reincarnated Noed and the rest, hoping they'd avenge me." Kirin but the book on the shelf again and walked over to Lillith slowly. Something told Lillith this was not the Kirin Enslade that had controlled her ten years ago, and the succubus stood where she was. Kirin put her hands on Lillith's shoulders in a focused manner and looked Lillith in her eyes to make a point. "But it's true that you see your entire life flash before your eyes before you die, and I started seeing that."

"And you've lived for over two hundred years," Lillith added. Kirin nodded at the statement.

"Yes, and as I saw those memories, I saw what I really was and what I had done. I loved my father, I really did. And yet I robbed so many girls of their own fathers… even you and Morrigan, to an extent. By the time I did die, I felt I was a changed person. I found compassion in Balteria Ciercin, my old enemy, and even a relationship in his teacher…"

"Then why am I here?" Lillith asked again, suddenly feeling more pity towards Kirin now.

"Lillith," Kirin turned and walked away again, leading Lillith to a bookshelf now. "I want _you_ to pick up where I left off."

"WHAT?" Lillith shouted, "But…"

"Not like that. I can't use Necromancy, or even _remember_ any of my Necromantic spells, but…" She picked out a book again and handed it to Lillith. "I was also a Mage. I want you to use the powers I have for the betterment of Makai."

"But I'm dead!" Lillith shouted, more out of emphasis of the fact than at Kirin herself. The Reincarnator just pointed to a green door. "What's that?"

"Technically, only part of Morrigan's soul died, you. That means that the being you two are isn't dead. That door is a sort of 'pathway home.' You're going to be brought back to life, that's been set in stone at a specific point in time." Lillith moved for it immediately, but Kirin told her to stop.

"Why?"

"Because with what's going to happen, it'll be in your favor to read up. Lillith, I don't want to be the person I was, and I want you to use my library for what you feel is right. Time in the Afterlife stands practically still, so you can spend an eternity studying and leave when you're ready."

Lillith just looked at Kirin, trying to understand why the Mage was doing this. She felt no malice in the older woman and then sighed. "Where do I start?"

* * *

The skies of Makai darkened immediately, a bolt of negative energy striking down onto a mountaintop as Noed's new master returned.

Miki, Demitri, and Morrigan recognized him immediately. The dark blue outfit, two strange wings on his back, the aqua green skin…

Jedah Domah had returned.

"About time," the Vampire Savior stated as he looked around the battlefield, pausing when he saw the young woman nearby. It was undeniable, especially due to the inverted eyes. "Owikamki… I see you have become quite the young woman." He bowed in a pseudo-chivalrous way before looking around to the other two fighters standing against his servants. "Maximoff and… an Aniar? Interesting."

"Master," Noed said as he and his associates bowed down. Jedah, radiating with Chi and Gen, was not a target of opportunity Demitri, Miki, or Flare was willing to exploit, especially with Morrigan on the ground, almost unconscious. "These three were interfering with your revival and-"

"I see," Jedah said as he turned and walked away. "Very well then, deal with them… if you are capable."

"But master-" Lowew started before a bolt of energy slammed into the exorcist.

"You think I'd directly raise a hand against the sole reason I killed Kirin Enslade?" Jedah howled. The demon then turned to Miki again and nodded. "Owikamki. I have high expectations for you. These pawns have filled their duty; kill them." When Ymu and Dena were about to protest, his Soul-Flame ignited again. "DO YOU REALLY THINK I'D ALLY MYSELF WITH ENSLADE'S FORMER SERVANTS?" He then turned back to Maximoff. "You always were a whelp. Kill them, and we shall see if you've grown up in these ten years."

Jedah vanished, leaving behind one corpse, two soulless bodies, one unconscious half-Syken, and eight conscious fighters. It was obvious, however, that Noed, Lowew, Ymu, and Dena had at least slightly cracked.

"Very well then," Noed said as he turned back to his enemies. "The ones that kill Aniar and Owikamki get their Blades of Might!" Lowew, Ymu, and he charged Miki, outnumbering her three to one and severely testing her to fighting abilities without Chrono-Bending.

Likewise, Dena chose to hold both Demitri and Flare at bay with her Sunlight, now erupting from both her hands. She suddenly appeared behind both vampires and chopped down. Flare managed to leap away in time, but Demitri was slammed in the side as he turned around, taking the full force of the Sunlight to his stomach, knocking him into a mountainside. As the Maximoff struggled out from the rubble, Dena chuckled, the thought of Jedah backstabbing her out of her mind for the moment.

"So you _actually_ survived it!" she said, looking around for Flare before focusing on Demitri again, feinting a slap with her glowing hand before kicking him in the neck back into the rock. Where was that blasted boy? "Oh well. I might as well increase the power again and test the results."

* * *

"I must thank you for bringing the Morte Edge!" Noed said maliciously as he caught hold of Miki's sword arm, freeing he, Ymu, and Lowew to strike her at various points on the Darkinarki's body. Miki soon went spiraling, trying to catch her breath. This might end up actually killing her… "The Morte Edge becomes stronger as its user nears death," Noed continued.

"But if the user recovers, the Edge's newfound power goes back into him or her! So we just kill you and take it, get a boost due to it, and Jedah will go down too!" Lowew finished before lunging in… without thinking. His kick went wild as Miki flung herself against the side of the ground, using the opportunity to stab up and into the mulleted one's leg. The man was pulled away due to Ymu's timely intervention, but not without losing a bit of blood.

"Still have some fight in you, eh?" Noed asked as he again appeared behind Miki, but this time she was ready. As the ex-Cleric tried to slash again like last time, the assassin moved forward enough that her feet flew up, slamming into Noed's hands and causing him to drop his sword. Noed immediately returned the favor with a massive yellow spike shooting up from the ground underneath Miki, but she managed to "Chaos Gauntlet Tech" it away.

But Ymu managed to connect with his brutal punches, launching Miki with almost an unheard of velocity.

* * *

"Dammit, Simon!" Flare hissed as he shook his friend ruthlessly. Lowew hadn't gotten _his_ soul, so there was still hope… Simon had his swords with him, and Flare _really_ needed one desperately. "Just one little word!"

"Wha…?" Morrigan said in a sleepy manner. "What are you trying to do?"

"Trying to create the sword of ultimate darkness," Flare said, hoping Simon wasn't dead. "Now, come on, Simon! WAKE UP!"

Slowly, the blonde haired boy one year his younger opened one eye. "Flare…?"

"Not the word I was hoping for, but we're on the right track!"

* * *

_It can't end like this!_ Demitri thought as Dena tortured him more and more with her Sunlight, almost at the level to kill him, but not enough.

"What's the matter, Vampire?" Dena asked, grinning in a sadistic manner. "Want me to stop or finish the job? Well…"

Demitri could only grit his teeth. Just a few fleeting moments, that would be all he'd need to use the Midnight Bliss… just a few seconds!

"Oh well. Guess I'll kill you then find Aniar and do the same! Solar Fatalit-"

"Dylek! Zepherous!" came a voice Demitri never thought he'd hear again as Donovan Baine slammed shoulder-first into Dena, his massive sword (currently with brand new attacks, thanks to the Saber of Ectratin) in his hands.

Ymu immediately jumped in to face Donovan, but two blue blurs dropped down in front of him.

"You can negate elements, right?" Gallon asked while letting out a feral growl.

"Too bad for you we'd be considered Neutral!" Hsien-Ko added as they both charged.

* * *

"Not so good for you now, is it, Noed?" Miki asked, ignoring Lowew sneaking up behind her, knowing full well Bulleta would snipe the bastard off. The assassin charged again, hearing the gunshot hit the exorcist, freeing her up to slash down with her left hand's blades, stopping and jumping up so Anita could blast Noed full-force with a thin beam fired from one outraised hand.

"Here," the Light Savior said as she tossed a mirror shard over to Miki. "I thought you might need one."

Her black garbed friend nodded, stabbed the shard into one of her wounds, and smiled as she felt a slight increase in her maximum Gen capacity.

"So," Noed mused as the two young women in front of him dropped into fighting stances, "Light and Dark fighting alongside each other." His facial expression changed to that of a man who had had it all taken away. "Very well then! Die!"

* * *

It had only sunk into Bulleta's head that she was the only one of the group fighting one of Kirin's underlings alone _after_ she had blasted his a hole in the bastard's arm, but it didn't matter to her. After all, it would show Owikamki up, _big time_.

"You made a _huge_ mistake, mullet-man!" Bulleta shouted, generating this time an ice-elemental shotgun. "You laid a finger on Lernan, and that means you're a dead man!"

Lowew smirked as he dashed in, took Bulleta's entire gun blast to the chest, and then grabbed ahold of her arms. He planted his foot into the twenty two-year-old Darkhunter's chest, causing her prosthetics to actually break off.

"Oops," Lowew chuckled as he tossed the wrecked robotic limbs away and Bulleta looked down to her stubs again and a shocked act. She was back to square one… "Too bad…"

Thoughts were swirling in her head. _What am I gonna do? Dammit! Damn you Owikamki and doing all of this!_

Miki's voice echoed through her mind then, and Bulleta didn't know if she was crazy or what. _Why are you yelling at me? __Haven't you figured it out yet?_

_What do you mean?_

_Bulleta, I chopped of your hands because you were getting too reliant on them. Well, that and you were trying to kill me, but that's not important. Learn to win fights when all your advantages are taken away. You learned how to bond with your guns and adapt to the loss of your hands, compensating for inferior robotic ones with generating your guns and using them as extensions of your body. Is this really so different? Grow up girl, after all, you **are** three years older than me._

Lowew charged, this time ready to do away with Bulleta and then aid Ymu. His fist was ready to strike down on the damned woman, who just dropped into a fighting stance. Then Bulleta punched forward…

…As diamond blades burst from her arms in an appearance not unsimilar to Miki's. Bulleta, almost as shocked as Lowew, still managed to cleanly sever the man's left hand. "What's the matter?" Bulleta lied, hoping Lowew would lose his sanity due to her next statement, "Did you think there was only _one_ Light Savior?"

* * *

"You're good, I'll give you that!" Gallon said as he managed to shoot past Ymu as a flaming blue bolt as Hsien-Ko matched her clawed hands against Ymu's bandaged ones. "But after all, I helped train one of the girls that's kicking your boss's ass!" Unfortunately, the werewolf took a punch to his side, leaving Ymu alone with the Kyong-Shi for a moment.

Ymu slammed one of his massive fists into the blue girl's face, then grabbing ahold of it before his hand practically caught on fire. Ymu let go, backing up and looking as some sort of female magician in a yellow robe and seemingly burst from Hsien-Ko's forehead, but he noticed the talisman on her head was gone now.

"Lin!" Hsien-Ko shouted, "You can't just do that! You're half of my power!"

"Would you rather prefer that bastard rip my to pieces? Then you'd lose me forever!" The other girl shouted back, seemingly ignoring the approaching Ymu.

"Well there's only one thing left to do!" Hsien-Ko shouted back as Ymu raised both of this fists up to bash the two young women's brains.

"Yeah!" Lin-Lin screamed back as they both turned and slammed their fists into Ymu's face. It wasn't too painful, but it did by Gallon the seconds he needed to slam into Ymu full power, thanks to a Beast Cannon.

* * *

"And even Dhampirs fall against me!" Dena shouted triumphantly as even Donovan and Demitri together were utterly demolished by playing keep-away with Dena's Sunlight. "Let's try this again… SOLAR FATALITY!" A massive, yellow sun appeared above her that she tossed down to the two vampires, but a strange black beam came out of nowhere.

"Super Shadow Conversion!" shouted Flare as he stood there, with what looked to be the Saber of Ectratin in his hands. The only difference was that the blade was just as black as the Subtle Edge normally was, and black electricity was crackling around it. Needless to say, the Conversion succeeded, and the sun was immediately turned pitch black and then vanished.

Dena just turned to Flare and grinned. "Shadowedge? The combined powers of the Saber of Ectratin and the Subtle Edge, resulting in mastery of shadow magic?"

"That's right, so we're even now. Your Sunlight can be negated by this," Flare stated.

Dena didn't waste another second, and simply charged at Flare like a bullet, fists ready to beat the snot out of him. Unfortunately for the ex-Cleric, Dena caught a Chaos Flare from Demitri in the back immediately followed by an ice-cold shot by Donovan. Flare added to the combo by charging up an attack in his right hand and struck the dazed woman up into the air with his foot. Then he tossed the black orb up above her, and bent over, slamming his palm into the ground.

"DRAGON PILE DRIVER!" Flare screamed as the small black sphere morphed, almost instantly, into a massive, black-scaled dragon, which dive-bombed into Dena and ground her into the ground.

Needless to say, even Demitri was impressed that the effectiveness of the attack, and quickly inquired if she was still alive.

"Likely," Flare answered back. "The thing is meant more to knock somebody down than do loads of damage."

"A trait," came Dena's voice as she erupted from the smoke and slammed into Flare, glowing hand ready to kill the Aniar again, "I am thankful for!"

She never got any further, however, because Donovan buried Dylek in her back and Demitri finally unleashed his deadliest technique. The Maximoff immediately grabbed the bleeding woman as he once again took his true form and a surge of light flashed around them, turning Dena into a catholic schoolgirl caught in the demon's grip.

Needless to say, Demitri felt he had never tasted sweeter blood, metaphorically at the very least, and he drank every drop.

"That's inhuman," Donovan said as he turned around to not see the carnage, noticing that Simon was on his feet with some assistance from the now-standing Morrigan, a weak grin on his face.

"Would you prefer the alternative?" Flare asked as he also turned and dusted off his chain mail. "She dies like this, she can't come back. If you or I did her away, she'd come back eventually. We don't even know how many reincarnation spells Kirin cast on her."

* * *

"Well, looks like your anti-vampire just failed," Anita said passively as she literally countered every one of Noed's attacks as it came to her. Miki, who had gotten careless and taken a few hard strikes to the stomach, was catching her breath and letting Anita contend with Noed on her own.

Not like the Light Savior was complaining. She found her unique powers drastically condemned Noed well before she landed her first critical blow.

Anita's greatest power, as she had quickly discovered after the Kirin incident, revolved around something similar to Miki's fighting style. While Chrono-Bending was used by Miki to squeeze in a few extra seconds of reaction time, Anita's "Still Waters", as she called it, had protected her from Kirin's unique form of mind control ten years ago by immediately tipping her off the to nature of each magical attack an enemy would use roughly five seconds before it was used. This meant there was no magical spell in existence she encountered that she didn't know how to deal with…

Which worked out very well when fighting a magician that didn't actually know that.

Noed had foolishly conjured up another round of fireballs, one of which Anita was tempted to deflect into Simon to help him recover his strength, but it would be too difficult, and Anita opted merely for bouncing them right back with her bare hands.

"Both Jedah and Kirin were afraid of me," Anita said calmly as Noed tried to kick her at a speed Anita could almost laugh at. She simply took a single step back, causing Noed to lose his center of balance and let her punch him once in the face. Anita's single strike left Noed staggering away with two black eyes and a broken nose. "I suggest you jump on the bandwagon."

Before Noed realized it, his arms and legs had been broken in four swift strikes, leaving him on the ground in a bloody and wrecked mess, in a shape like Kirin's was after being butchered by Thinwhistle, Simon, and Brian a year ago. And just like Kirin, he was laughing.

"So, girl," he coughed out. "Finish the job! Or are you afraid I'll just come back again and again, waiting for the opportune moment to kill you?"

"That won't be a problem," came Miki's voice as she walked over, smiling as her right hand was once again turning black. That would mean only one thing: the Singularity Fist. Not like it really mattered, but it would _hurt._ "See, I've been doing some thinking about the Singularity Fist. It focuses a Black Hole's unlimited power into one punch. But that a _lot_ of surface area to distribute a punch like that into, and I decided there was a much more efficient way of doing it." The hand's color shifted back to Miki's normal, slightly tanned pale, save for the index and middle fingers. "So I might as well try this out. All the power into just two knuckles! Say hello to the _Point_ Singularity Fist!"

The punch slammed into Noed's head, and the man's body liquefied in less than a second. Miki looked otherwise unspent, except that her black Soul-Flame had almost completely fizzled out. "It also drains a much greater level of Gen in exchange for not tiring myself out otherwise. Of course, it'll be hard to even Chrono-bend for more than a second for awhile."

"And Noed?" Anita asked, Miki smiled.

"All taken care of. By dumping more of my soul into the punch, it causes spiritual damage as well. Even if Noed gets revived again, he'll be a joke."

Suddenly, the cries of battle shook Anita, Donovan, Demitri, Flare, and Miki out of their relaxed states as the war between Bulleta and Lowew still raged, although it was apparent that Gallon was having the last laugh against Ymu (with a lot of help from Hsien-Ko and Lin-Lin, too).

"Should we…" Anita asked, but Miki shook her head.

"Nah. Bulleta's doing a damn good job as it is."

A/N: The battle against Noed and company is almost won, until Lowew suddenly turns the tides through Necromancy! Can Bulleta defeat, on her own, an entity stronger than any she's ever faced? And what is the explanation of her newfound Darkinark-like abilities? Find out next chapter: Revival.


	13. Revival

A/N: I don't own Street Fighter or Darkstalkers. And any questions, comments, or concerns about this fanfic would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to know how I'm doing.

"Of all the places, Vega," Chun Li muttered as she looked through the lush jungle to a clearing, "You had to pick Thailand. Just like Bison…"

The Chinese Interpol agent furrowed her brow in aggravation. Vega just _had_ to pick the place where years ago, she had put faith into the belief that Bison had died for good, just to see him spring back for the second World Warrior tournament. If it had been any consolation, it had been the fact that Bison had been weak enough then for her to beat him. Honestly, she had been smiling on the inside when Gouki had killed the bastard. That, and getting beat by Simon (who she could've beaten if she hadn't lost her cool) freed her up to take out the bigger threat.

But enough introspective thinking. It was time for action.

* * *

"Not doing so well, are you?" Gallon asked as he readied his trusty nunchuku in his hands while looking at Ymu, who had a significant gash across both of his arms. Hsien-Ko was also grinning, but more preoccupied when she saw Bulleta's current condition.

_Diamond?_ The Kyong-Shi thought as both she and Gallon leapt away from a pair of hand smashes by Ymu that left massive craters, immediately charging back and slicing off the creature's arms.

"Go for the soul!" Miki shouted from a distance, and Hsien-ko immediately knew what she was talking about. Gallon took the initiative and struck Ymu across the face several times to daze the former priest, freeing up Lei-Lei to slam her talisman onto Ymu's forehead. Ymu screamed in agony as blue lightning burst from the seal and he collapsed to the ground before the talisman re-formed as Lin-Lin in her sorcerer's outfit.

"Took care of it!" She said cheerfully. "You don't spend years helping out your undead sister without learning a thing or two about Necromancy!"

* * *

"You're all that's left, pansy-man!" Bulleta shouted as she rolled to the side and avoided another grab by Lowew. "Ten on one's not good odds!"

The mulleted man's expression seemed that of despair for a moment, but slowly, a grin appeared on his face, followed by insane laughter. "You don't get it, do you!" He pointed straight at Miki, "AND NEITHER DID YOU! YOU OF _ALL _PEOPLE!"

Miki's eyes suddenly went wide as she charged at Lowew. How could she have made such a slip-up? "GET HIM!" the Darkinarki screamed as it dawned on Flare as well. Willing sacrifices for him… how could she be so dumb! Anita was already ahead of her, having a previous tip-off due to her powers. But it was…

"TOO LATE!" Lowew raised his one hand up into the sky and spoke a single word: "Gone."

Before they knew it, Morrigan, Bulleta, Donovan, Demitri, Gallon, Lei-Lei, Lin-Lin, Miki, Flare, Simon, Lowew, and Anita's bodies all fell to the ground, soulless.

* * *

"Well… I guess that's it then," Lillith said as she closed the last book in Kirin's library for the last time. She had finally read every book. Every single one. It had taken decades, and Kirin had often been forced to use physical motivation of the Succubus, but it was finally over.

Kirin pointed over the door, smiling. "That's as far as I can help you go. It's up to you now."

Lillith bowed her head in thanks. Although there was still much resentment in her heart towards this woman who had ten years ago manipulated her, Lillith couldn't truly hate her any more. "Thank you." Lillith walked towards the green door and reached for the doorknob, but then stopped. "Tell me, why did you bring Demitri back to life, considering he'd hate you so intently?"

Kirin's expression changed instantly when Lillith asked that. "What? I didn't do anything of the sort! When was he brought back to life?"

"Just a week or two ago…" She ended her sentence early. Kirin's reincarnation required the target to be brought back at that exact second, so she couldn't give it a delay. Something was up, something possibly dealing with Necromancy that put Kirin's to shame, if that was possible. "Whatever the case, I'll deal with it!" She opened the door and walked through, returning herself to the real world.

Kirin sighed. "Please… for your sake and mine."

* * *

Anya furrowed her brow in frustration as Arc managed to keep up his strength as each second passed. She had honestly expected him to fall down, exhausted, after the first ten minutes. Even though he hadn't, Anya decided to move towards her contingency plan.

"Alright, Mr. Knight," Anya said as moved her black-nailed hand towards her neck. And so began the game of chicken. "What do you do?"

"Wha?" Arc asked squinting through his one eye and trying to tell what was going on.

"Simple," Anya said. "Either you submit to my will, or I kill myself. Now I know even you Alcemian Paladins are bound by the code of Chivalry in its entirety. So will you just sit back and let a beautiful woman rip her own throat out because you won't say 'yes' to her?" She walked up straight to him, eye to eye, and smiled. "Please say yes and save face." Her voice was not that of a frightened girl. She knew what she was doing.

Arc had honestly not expected this. But there was nothing he could do now except give in. He was a Paladin, and he'd stay to his code above all else. But… if he just let her kill herself, then all this trouble would be over! Then again… he _was_ bound to his word as a knight.

"…fine…"

"I can't hear you…" Anya cheered happily as she applied pressure, causing a few drops of blood to trickle down her neck.

"Fine."

"You know what I want you to do, Cyko! So do it!"

"FINE!" Arc growled as his skin returned to its yellow hue… roughly one second before Anya bit down on his neck.

And at that moment, the holiest man in Alcemia fell to Anya Maximoff.

* * *

"Huh?" Blade asked as she suddenly opened her eyes. She remembered getting exorcised by Lowew, but that was it as she looked over. Brian was okay, and Lillith was there, helping him stand up, but…

They were on the ground, mere husks without a core. All of the others, Lowew included. _Dammit!_ She looked down at the Sage's Bracelet around her left wrist, _And YOU should've been able to stop this!_

"What's going on?" Lillith asked, wondering what had just happened.

Brian took a look around… well; at least Ymu, Dena, and Noed were taken care of. "High-level Exorcism. Instead of summoning souls to you, you expel them away. Guess Lowew did it too strong for his own good, and since Blade and I were-" He suddenly fell forward before Lillith caught him. Blade experienced a similar fall, but she quickly stabbed the Dracostaff into the ground for support. "Thanks." The gunner-turned-Cleric caught his breath before continuing. "Anyways, our souls must've been brought back as a result."

_Souls brought back…_ Lillith thought, _That explains how I got brought back…_ "But what about the others?"

"Stuck out there," Blade said, sweeping her hands across the blood-red sky of Makai. "It'd be pointless to try to bring them back with my own Necromancy, since I don't know where I should start, so we've just gotta wait until we get word from them."

* * *

"Where are we?" Anita asked as she looked around. This place was… no, _felt_ different than any she had ever been. It was a place of sorrow and humility, and Simon, Miki, and Flare were also perplexed.

"Ectratin?" Simon asked as he looked around. "But… the buildings are so high and old…"

"Apologies for my antiquated memories," came a voice as they turned. Simon, Flare, and Miki immediately recognized him. It was Balteria Ciercin, the Cursed Necromancer… Alcemia's greatest hero. "But I haven't seen what the city's been like for a good while, so I had to go by memory."

"You're…" Anita started before the Necromancer nodded.

"The one and only. Sorry to say, though, but I'll have to be short. Not being dead here means you're still stuck to mortal concepts of time."

"What's going on here?" Gallon asked as he looked around. It looked like he was in a hospital, watching a baby being born. He was again in his wolf form, yet none of the doctors even noticed him, in fact, they passed right through him.

"I was proud when I saw you," growled a voice as the werewolf turned around to see a similar-looking werewolf looking right at him. Yet this one was older, with a scar over one eye, and with grey hair. "I would've been in the room with your mother, but… well… you know."

* * *

Gallon had a perplexed look before the fact dawned on him. "Baraba Kreutz? Dad?" he asked. His father nodded. "Where are we?"

"Well, _I'm_ dead, victim of letting my guard down against an amateur hunter, but _you're_ still alive. It's just your soul that's been brought here. Once that Lowew bastard gets his, you should go straight back."

"Thanks, but… why here?"

The elder werewolf smiled. "Just because with what's going to happen soon, even all your training won't be enough. The Alcemians have their role to play in this struggle…"

* * *

"But you two, my daughters…" Lei-Lei and Lin-Lin's mother told them in a similar circumstance in their own Afterlife region…

* * *

"Will have your own struggles to deal with," said a man who wore similar priest robes to Brian's to Donovan. "You've struggled against the demonic energies inside of yourself, and I commend you for that. But you're dealing with the symptoms of the disease, not the actual cause."

"What do you mean?" the Damphir asked, wondering just how much this "Guarnig" knew.

"Look at Gallon," Guarnig explained. "By avoiding overcompensation, he's found a perfect balance between his two sides."

"A werewolf is just a beast," Donovan said as he turned around and began walking away, "You don't want to know what I tried to do in my temporary fall from grace."

"Maybe I don't," Guarnig replied, "but we all have moments when we fail to live up to the ideals we hold-"

Donovan clenched his fists. "I tried to kill Anita!" he growled. "It was a risk for her to confront me and hope for the best, knowing what would happen if she was wrong!"

"You didn't lay a finger on her, did you?" Guarnig asked quietly, already knowing the answers. Being dead and therefor not bound to physical concepts of time did have its advantage, he just had to be sure not to screw up the future by telling anyone what would happen. He just hoped Balteria and Kirin wouldn't screw up either…

"Not once," Donovan answered, even quieter. "But I don't want to go back there… being the very thing I do all in my power to fight and kill."

"Well… look at Balteria," Guarnig proposed, "A cross with both sides the same length is meant as the union of opposites... it's the symbol Balteria put on his outfits for a reason. Perhaps you just need to approach it at a different angel."

* * *

"Where are we?" Bulleta asked as she looked around herself. This wasn't any place she had seen before, but then again… a massive desert like the one she was in could be anywhere… Earth, Makai, it was likely even Alcemia had one… 

Her mulleted enemy laughed. "This region of Makai is known for being lifeless. No food, no water, no form of sustenance of any kind for any type of creature and goes on for thousands of miles. Essentially: if you come here without supplies, you die."

Bulleta just looked at him and chuckled. "You're bluffing. Makai has no such region. I've done plenty of jobs there to at least know about the regions I've never seen."

Lowew growled. "Fine. Then just consider it the place you'll die!"

He charged much faster now than Bulleta ever thought he could, and she caught a harsh punch to the face. Yet Lowew didn't try that exorcism trick he had used before… why? It didn't matter at the moment, as Bulleta just focused on the task at hand and kicked Lowew away.

"Now what the Hell is going on here?" Bulleta asked as she tried to form her guns, but to no avail. Lowew then just burst out laughing.

"Soul-manifestation on the physical realm!" Lowew answered. "But since all your guns and blades and the like are generated from your body-"

"Point taken," Bulleta answered. "So it just comes down to the strength of our souls now?"

"Exactly."

"Fine!" Bulleta shouted. Lowew was on the same boat she was, meaning at the very least, he didn't have an advantage over her… or at least she thought that until a serpent-creature surged into her. "What the-?"

"Exorcism and Necromancy are practically the same…" Lowew said as several other snakes coiled around him. "So I just reverse the spells. And since I'm manifesting souls, not energy to be converted into a physical form, they _can_ hurt you."

"So why all the effort over me?" Bulleta asked, the fact bothering her. Lowew shrugged.

"You chopped off my body's hand. I'll deal the rest later." Lowew did not expect Bulleta to begin laughing, however.

"You think just because you have the grand scheme you can beat all of us?" Bulleta laughed. "My grandma, bless her soul, could beat you to a pulp!" She charged, jumping to the side before the next serpent could strike, and then went on the offensive, grabbing the extended creature around its neck and pulling on it, drawing Lowew closer to her. She knocked him up with a punch to the chin before jumping up and away from the souls now spiraling around her. "I also did training when Morrigan was more of a threat to my backers, so I can deal with tentacle-users, especially those weaker than me."

Lowew furrowed his brow as the streams spiraled around Bulleta again, this time, ready with a surprise. Just like before, Bulleta jumped over them but this time, white bolts shot out of their mouths and one grazed Bulleta's side. The next caught her left arm, and Lowew then decided to plant his fist cleanly in her face.

"What was that about you being stronger than me?" he asked, but Bulleta just lay there on the ground, trying to get up and facing the ground. "Well?" Nothing. Lowew then subsequently walked over to where she was and kicked her several feet away. "Well?"

As Bulleta tried to dust herself off, she stood up and grinned. "Boom."

Before Lowew knew it, a conveniently placed, spirit-fueled bomb under his feet exploded…

…And Bulleta found herself back on Makai, along with everybody else. Lowew's body wasn't moving.

* * *

"Good to see you're okay," Miki said as she raised out her hand to help Bulleta up. "By the way, how'd you beat him?"

"You're talking to someone that was able to generate diamond blades and guns, spur-of-the-moment, without even thinking about it. What do you think?" She asked as she walked away. "But thanks anyways… for telling me to grow up just then."

"What? I was caught up beating Noed to a pulp! I didn't have any time for some sort of introspective talk with you."

"Whatever. I'm heading back now." She turned and started walking away.

"As will I," Demitri growled, walking past Morrigan and pausing for a moment. "Truce over. I expect my battle against you as soon as possible." He left without saying anything else.

Others in the group were glad to know they had all gone through, some with a few more scrapes than others… but Noed and the rest were dead. That was established.

Morrigan was the happiest of them, although she didn't show just _how_ far that joy went when she saw Lillith standing there, a small grin on her face.

"If you wouldn't mind," the elder succubus said as she turned to those still present, "I think we could use a good night's rest and my home is closer than the gate. Whether you use it or not is up to you." She then flew off with Lillith, majestic wings meant for a leisurely flight replacing her jetpack and the intention of fastest arrival.

"I'll pass. Got some thinking to do," Gallon muttered as she started walking towards the closest forest.

"I think I'll join you," Donovan answered.

"What's gotten into them?" Lin-Lin asked, already reverting into normal human form along with her sister.

"Doesn't matte- wah!" Brian answered as he tried to take a step and almost fell clean over. "Ow." Blade wasn't much better, using her staff literally as a crutch.

"What's that about?" Simon asked as everyone else around him shrugged.

"Souls clawing back into their bodies and tiring themselves?" Anita proposed.

"What about Lillith?" Lei-Lei asked.

"She's just the fragment of a soul that takes a physical form, so I figure she has no real body to fight back into, just return from the Afterlife. Speaking of which…"

* * *

"Quite a story," Morrigan summed up as Lillith finished her explanation of where she went and what had happened. _Kirin of all people…_ she added silently.

"Yours too! You actually talked with Father?"

Morrigan nodded before sighing. "Yes, and he's still telling us to give up on enjoying life to its fullest and just assume the mantle of Makai's leader to make sure someone else doesn't pull a Jedah _again_."

"We'll do it at our own terms!" Lillith cheered as she opened up the door, seeing a demonic butler standing there. "Oh, hello Lucien."

"My ladies," their servant said as he bowed. "I thought you'd still be on Earth for the Severed Swordsman tournament, but your room _is_ prepared in case of emergencies."

"Good old Lucien," Morrigan said as she kissed him on the cheek in a thankful manner before heading upstairs to actually get some sleep with Lillith, deciding at least for tonight, to just morph in some pajamas and sleep normally.

"I have a few things to see to tomorrow," Morrigan said as she playfully ruffled Lillith's hair before they slid into the massive bed, "So I'll probably be gone before you wake up."

"Whatever. Good night, Morrigan."

"Good night, Lillith."

* * *

Enteria Ciercin's eyes slowly opened as his gaze immediately fell down upon a strange, ivory-skinned man with blood-red hair standing in front of him. It was obviously a demon, but not the one that had attacked him, Gurn, and Arc earlier…

"Persimmon de Lepe," the Makai noble said in an aged voice, grinning. "Just here to make sure you don't cause a problem. Otherwise…"

"The people of Ectratin know not to give enemies a reason to attack," Enteria said, "But I'm assuming you have demons swarming around my city and the Cleric's temple at the base of the volcano in case anyone gives you trouble."

"You're a smart one," Persimmon said, more as a statement of fact than a compliment. "Anya can have the Syken for all I care. Gregorio can take Owikamki, Xell can match power against Lernan all he wants, Sierra can deal with her rivalry with Thinwhistle, and Taurus can have all the relics this wonderful world has. _I,_ on the other hand, desire something far greater: the power that allowed Balteria Ciercin, less than a hundredth of Beliel Aensland's age, to be able to match him move-for-move in battle."

"Much of Ectratin's libraries were burnt to the ground a year ago. You won't find anything of value here."

Persimmon's expression changed for a moment as his eyes flashed green before relaxing. "Very well then. I'll just have to glean what I can from what you have left."

* * *

"Miss Maximoff," Kaga said as a messenger delivered a letter to him, "It seems that Team Edalsne has been killed."

"Oh, by whom?" she asked, smiling as she looked at Arc Cyko's sleeping form in her castle until a bolt of lightning caught both Kaga and her off guard.

"By those you'd assume," Jedah answered as he stepped into existence in the castle, bowing in an arrogant manner before taking a look over to Kaga. "Have I met you from somewhere? You… seem familiar to me."

Kaga growled at Jedah's obvious pun, although the Vampire Savior himself didn't know he had unwittingly said the demon's name.

"Jedah Dohma… I see you have been recalled to life… _again_," Anya said nonchalantly. "To what do I owe this inconvenience?"

Jedah's stare became icy before he turned and walked away. "I will not have Makai's salvation taken away from me. It is my duty alone."

"Which is why you always fail when-"

Anya took a harsh scythe slash clean across her face from Jedah, although she raised her hand up to keep Kaga from doing anything against it.

Jedah said defiantly, "I could care less about this tournament of yours and whatever schemes you have, but I assure you, _stay out of my way or you **will** be killed_."

"Not a problem," Anya said, smiling through the blood that streamed down her face.

* * *

"Leveda…" Miki said as she looked at the Sacred Assassin's dead body, closing her eyes as she slammed her fist into the roof of the building. DAMMIT! Why did this always happen to her? Why was it those she was connected to by blood _always_ die? Her friends… her family… even the Sacred Assassins she had fought against?

Kalazi, Atesu, Akura… everyone else? What made her so special that she was allowed to be brought back to life _twice_ when some people only got one life? At least Simon had the benefit of knowing that he was the last of a race; no other Syken would ever die just so he could live!

"Never saw you like this before. I must say, I preferred the arrogant bitch," Bulleta's voice said as Miki turned to see the gunner standing there. A spare set of prosthetics were replacing her ones lost in the fight against Lowew. "Your boyfriend said you were up here, and unlike him, I'm not going to leave you to your own devices."

"I'm not in the mood, Bulleta," Miki said, clenching her fist.

"Well then grow up!" Bulleta laughed, diamond blades erupting from her body just like Miki's own obsidian ones, "After all, you're still a teenager!"

Miki preferred to counter with her own blades and lock them against Bulleta's as they glared at each other. "So what's with the new gimmick?" Miki asked, "Couldn't think up anything original, again?"

"That's the Miki I know and loathe!" Bulleta cheered as she and the Darkinarki matched wits and skills against each other, each attack blocked by either wrist or elbow blades. "And no," Bulleta answered, "It' just I figured that I can use Fire, Earth, Wind, and Ice guns, I might want to diversify with Neutral-elements either and your blades seemed like a good choice!"

"You're still just a poser," Miki muttered as she charged again, left hand slashing low while the right hand struck high.

"Get used to it."

A/N: Well, the struggle against Noed is dealt with, but what was Ibuki's little "package" for Miki, and Leveda's present also, for that manner? What are Donovan and Gallon pondering, and does it concern the need for greater power? More importantly, when Ryu confronts Simon about the impending danger of his next opponent, will the power of the Excel Drive save Simon from being just another of Gouki's victims? Find out in The Quiet Before the Storm.

P.S. Opinions would greatly appreciated. I know you people are reading this and I want to know how I am doing… so PLEASE REVIEW! Is this worth the effort? Are you just hitting the refresh button to rack up the hits and trick me into thinking lots of people are reading this? Seriously, REVIEW!


	14. Quiet Before the Storm

A/N: Jeez… amazing how long a break can be. You know I don't own this or any of the other stuff I mention… well, Alcemia and its inhabitants are mine, but that's it.

As the night wore on, two figures danced in the light, obsidian and diamond wristblades clashing as both Bulleta continued her assault on Miki.

"Tired?" the Darkhunter asked as her opponent fought at a slower pace, trying to catch her breath.

"_Yeah_," Miki answered, "You should know, since I was there when I dumped everything I had into killing Noed!"

"Cry me a river, arm-chopper," Bulleta taunted as diamond gun turrets materialized around Miki, opening fire and tracking Miki as she jumped from building to building, wincing as one blast managed to scrape across her arm.

_Dammit…_ Miki swore as her hand drifted across the sword she hadn't returned to Simon. _Then again…_

The next flurry of diamonds were swept away by the ivory-white katar as Miki's stance changed into that of a swordsman's.

"That's something I've always wondered about you Alcemians and your swords," Bulleta mused as she twirled a diamond magnum around in her fingers. "What exactly is so special about the 'Blades of Might' anyways?"

"Brian didn't tell you?"

"No. We mainly discussed all the times you didn't save the day."

"Plenty of those. Brian probably missed a couple. But as for this…" Miki shrugged off the cheap shot. "The saying goes on Alcemia that when a big conflict breaks out, it'll end by a Blade of Might. Thankfully, all of them are accounted for. Simon's got two, Flare's got the Subtle Edge, Arc Cyko has the Twisted Shamshir, and this here is number five… the Morte Edge. As I get closer to dying, it gets stronger… but if I recover, then the katar's new strength goes into _me_."

"How very Dragon Ball-ish," Bulleta muttered as she opened fire, some rounds far-off the target, others barely missing Owikamki as she charged, pushing her exhausted body as far as it would go…

Until she slashed at Bulleta, who stepped out of the way and placed the barrel of a gun straight to Miki's head.

"Dead," Bulleta said while sporting a big grin. "You really _are_ tired if you couldn't dodge this."

"Whose fault is it, then?" Miki asked as she turned away. "Besides, I'm not in the mood."

"Wah wah…" Bulleta mocked, firing a warning shot only millimeters away from Miki's face. "Is your whole problem that all the other Darkinarki you've ever met were killed either by your enemies or _because_ they're your enemies?"

"…You have no idea what it's like. I mean, they're still plenty of them out there just living normal lives, otherwise I'd have the Excel Drive. But really… I'm worried about Simon and Flare and the rest."

"Go on," Bulleta said.

"Blade and Brian are still out of it and it'll take them a couple of days to get their strength back. Simon is still running around with only half the Excel Drive going for him. And-"

"WHO CARES!" Bulleta shouted, "You're acting like you Alcemian losers are the only people that can possibly deal with Anya and Jedah and the rest! We can actually fight too, ya know! At the very least, we'll handle the slack for the moment!"

Miki clenched the katar in her hand as she slowly breathed. "Thanks. Oh, and one other thing." She quickly spun around, tossing the Morte Edge at Bulleta, missing her head by millimeters. "Dead."

"Not with aim that bad," Bulleta sighed as she walked away.

* * *

"So what do we know so far?" Donovan asked Jon as they sat in the middle of a forest in Makai. "Concerning Jedah, Anya, Noed, and anybody else that might be planning something?"

"For one, we've got the whole 'Gift of Chaos' fiasco dealing with why it won't work," Gallon started.

"Various groups probably looked into it after the Kirin incident and found a way to circumvent it. It wouldn't be impossible. It's Makai we're talking about, after all."

"Mystery number one solved," Gallon said. "Okay, problem number two: what the hell is Anya planning?"

"No idea, except for the fact that most of those college students are already incapacitated and unvampire-ized."

"Well," Gallon said as he stood up, "Let's try to look into that next."

Unfortunately for Gallon and Donovan, the situation became further befuddled as a blast rocked Anya's stately castle in Makai.

* * *

Anya stood there at the entrance as Thaylin's corpse slid next to her; it seemed that her new guest wasn't as courteous as Jedah had been.

"I see that you've acquired a strength that is not unsimilar when you had absorbed Pyron's power, Demitri," Anya said as she observed the far-stronger vampire now looking at her.

"Amazing what sucking the blood of an Alcemian can do," Demitri answered. "I feel in light of this development…" his hand glowed yellow… Dena's old vampire-killing technique, "Our previous agreement has no need to be maintained."

"So you were thinking of just killing me off and then tacking back control of the Maximoff family, no?"

"That _was_ the plan."

Anya smiled. Thank God for precautionary measures. "Kaga? Arc? Deal with Demitri, will you."

Demitri took a look into the shadows… noticing a yellow-skinned armored being and Anya's butler/go-to man were there. A flick of the Maximoff's wrist sent a grimacing and screaming fireball with a face into the two, a satisfying explosion following afterwards. "Easy enough."

"To destroy a barrier, hell yes!" shouted Kaga as the smoke cleared, showing a scaled-down Blue Whale burned to a crisp with a gaping hole in the middle, apparently summoned by the butler. Demitri had to admit his ability to throw up defenses _was_ notable.

A thin laser immediately shot through the hole, fired from the monstrous sword the latter used… Anya had called him "Arc". Obviously neither human nor demon, it looked like Arc was another of the Alcemians. A simple upraised hand stopped the laser dead in its tracks, and although the pain was noticeable, it was not obscene.

"Demitri, even this newfound power you have gained cannot match the three of us in battle. Now I already have made a decision with Jedah and I will be perfectly content to let you leave in one piece if you do so immediately. Otherwise I may have to call the Vampire Savior into this, and you _know_ how destructive he can be."

"Quite," Demitri answered, weighing the situation. Perhaps discretion would be the best choice at the moment. "But this family _will_ be under my control, I promise you that Anya." He turned and walked out, stopping for a moment, feeling the energy around him. There was something familiar in the air… "Do I know you from somewhere, Mr. Familiar?" Demitri asked.

Kaga scowled, "Depends…"

* * *

_What a hell of a day…_ Simon though as he dragged Blade inside of their apartment, the swordswoman already asleep… partly from the length of the day but mainly from the taxing abuse of having her soul literally ripped out and then forcefully put back in. The half-Syken was running on fumes already, and he barely had the energy left after dropping Blade in bed to notice that there was a message on the answering machine.

Groggily, Simon's hand brushed up against the "play" button as the voice of a Japanese man came on it.

"Hello Simon Tyer. My name is Ryu and I'm not sure if you know who I am or not, but I assure you I have your best intentions in mind. Please, meet me tomorrow at noon in front of the stadium to discuss your next match."

_That all?_ Simon thought as he fell into bed next to Blade and drifted off into sleep.

The inhabitants of Ectratin were accustomed to curbing collateral damage in dangerous situations, and the current occupation by various demons under Persimmon de Lepe was no exception. Thankfully, the demons were more there to prevent any retaliatory actions that might endanger Persimmon than go out of their way and leave a visible sign to all of Alcemia that demons once again inhabited the planet.

Of course, it wasn't like _every_ Alcemian was playing by the rules as a black-armored man slid down the slope of the volcano, sizing up the situation.

_They came… just like the logbook said… good old Balteria…_ thought Blaze Aniar as he slipped into the city unnoticed.

* * *

The night slowly dragged on, and when dawn finally broke on Makai, Lillith turned over in the bed to see Morrigan was already gone on whatever reason she said she had to do.

Lillith, however, had other things on her mind as she thought about the events that had occurred yesterday… dying, Jedah, _Kirin_…

Crazier things had happened, and Lillith didn't feel any kind of deviations in her personality…

She looked down at her hand, clenching it and standing up. Today was a brand new day, and she had work to do.

* * *

_Oh god do I hurt_, Brian thought as he got up from the bed, assuming Blade was going through the same kind of aches he was. He bit his lip in frustration as he straightened up, trying to get his bearings when…

"HIYA!" shouted Bulleta as she popped up from the side with a large table filled with various breakfast materials. "And how's my little gunner doing today?"

"Bulleta… last night were you captured by space aliens and replaced by an identical being programmed to not be a sociopath?" Several bullets that became lodged into the side of the bed proved otherwise… and also proved to be an excellent morning eye-opener.

"Depends," Bulleta responded while smiling sweetly, contemplating whether or not she should nuzzle the pistol in her hands to finish the presentation. "I just felt since Mr. Alcemian Hero is bed-ridden, the nice and wonderful Darkhunter should do him a favor."

"Thanks… I guess," he started before Bulleta plopped down at the foot of his bed and clicked on a DVD player and starting up halfway through an episode of some show. "And that would be?"

"Just some Darkhunter -well… they call it 'hunting'- with these two brothers that go around dealing with monsters and demons and crap. Some of the stuff… like vampires… they got horribly wrong, but some of the other stuff is pretty accurate. Using consecrated iron against Shtrigas, for instance."

"Isn't this like a cop watching 'Law and Order'?"

Bulleta casually generated a diamond gun and fired another round into the bedpost. "Hey, you need to get better and I'm your caretaker of my own free will. Now be a good little boy, Lernan, and shut up. Otherwise my aim is going to get better and better with every snide remark you make."

Brain smirked. "You're sounding like Miki." He quickly shot his hand out and caught a sizable diamond shard before it lacerated his neck and tossed it aside. "Didn't say you were acting like her."

"You're hopeless, gunner…"

* * *

Simon looked over at Blade's still-sleeping form as he crept out of the apartment, hoping that the meeting with Ryu wouldn't degrade into a shouting match over some of his techniques looking suspiciously similar to those by a man that went by the name of Bison…

_Ryu supposedly is a pretty good fighter… took care of some cases so Donovan and company didn't need to get involved…_ Simon thought as he walked down the street a few minutes later, finally having his nerves beginning to ease. _Wonder what he wants to talk about_.

Ryu was standing by the street corner in plain clothes, basic shirt and pant only offset by the red headband he wore as always, a memorandum from Ken to enjoy the battle itself, not when you won.

"You called?" Simon asked as he walked up to Ryu, standing next to him and watching several of the tournament matches for tomorrow being posted.

"Yes," Ryu answered. "Your match is about to be posted." The Ansatsuken fighter pointed up to the electronic board, the words "Simon vs. Gouki" appearing before moving on to another fight. "I'm telling you this for your own good… forfeit the match. He'll kill you… after all, it's what he does."

"I'll be fine," Simon answered back, turning and then walking away.

Ryu grit his teeth as he shot a hand out and grabbed Simon forcefully by the shoulder, pulling him back. The kid was like Ryu felt he had been in the first World Warrior tournament… eighteen, hot-headed, thinking that just because he won his first few matches with minimal suffering that the rest of the rounds would be as easy. Of course… Ryu knew where that road led. "No you _won't_. Listen, I don't know where the hell you learned how to fight, but you were lucky enough your past to opponents weren't really trying to kill you!"

Simon sighed. "How much experience do you think I have when it comes to fighting for my life?"

Ryu scowled at Simon. "Not enough to survive against Gouki. Now go through with this stupid desire of yours if you want, but I won't be there to save you if he kills you."

"Ryu…" Simon said as he walked away, "Fighting people trying to kill me is my specialty. Be sure to watch tomorrow, you'll be in for a show."

_We'll see,_ Ryu thought as he walked away.

* * *

It was another bright morning at the Felicity House as its founder strolled by the front door, her white tailing flicking back and forth, the robe of a nun masking her feline appearance otherwise.

A knock at the door caused Felicia to turn and open it, wondering who would come this early. She didn't expect it to be her green-haired acquaintance… complete in red slacks and slightly unbuttoned white shirt.

"Oh, it's you," Felicia said in stark contrast to her usual cheery attitude. Still looking at Morrigan's face, Felicia gestured towards the shirt. "There are kids here. Have some courtesy, please."

"If you insist," Morrigan answered flippantly as she walked in. "I see this place is looking better than ever."

Felicia grinned, "Of course. I made a lot of money when I was a singer, and with proper investing, money won't be a problem for a long time, if it ever will be in the first place." She led Morrigan to the small chapel in the orphanage, sitting down and praying while Morrigan just stood there until Felicia was finished. "So…" Felicia eventually said, "I hear there's some new tournament been opened up to Darkstalkers _and_ some of the normal fighters and you're serving as a referee."

"To help out, yes," Morrigan answered. "The Alcemians are back… and you remember Owikamki, correct?"

"A little killing machine."

"Well now she's all grown up," Morrigan said as she sat down next to Felicia. "But that's not why I came."

"Oh?"

"Did those kids that Kirin had captured… _remember_ anything?"

Felicia looked over at Morrigan for a moment in confusion. "No… What are you talking about?"

"There was a fight yesterday. Turns out Kirin's former associates decided they wanted to have a little revenge."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't _exactly_ know, but from what Lillith told me, Kirin had a change of heart when she died for good a year ago."

"And…"

Morrigan sighed. "Lillith ended up getting momentarily thrown into whatever Alcemia's version of the Afterlife and ended up meeting with Kirin… and ended up learning some of Kirin's magic and techniques."

"And what's the significance of that whatsoever?" Felicia asked.

Morrigan was amazed at the question. "What are you talking about? You don't have a problem with that at all?"

"Why would I?"

"What about the whole Kirin incident? She was responsible for a lot of horrible acts here, and-"

"Are you sure you didn't come here for yourself?" Felicia interrupted. "You seem more worried about it than I am."

"It's not me," Morrigan answered, "I don't feel any different about Lillith… I mean, she's very nice and _really_ good in b-"

"We're in a house of God," Felicia said, "I'd prefer you have some respect for it."

"So sorry," Morrigan apologized. "It's just…"

"I remember when I battled Lillith in Majigen," Felicia said, "It was before you did, so she was in much better shape… she was quite the hellion in that fight. But she didn't get any sadistic pleasure from the fight, she might have enjoyed it, but she wasn't a battle junkie. Even with Kirin, it wasn't Lillith in control of what she was doing. You've got nothing to worry about."

"Thanks," Morrigan said as she stood up, "So… you're saying…"

"Lillith learned how to _fight_ like Kirin, not _be_ Kirin," Felicia summed up. "Now get out of my orphanage before the kids look at you and ask where babies come from."

* * *

Anita breathed in and out slowly as she recalled what Balteria Ciercin had told her last night when she had undergone an out-of-body experience.

It wasn't much, they had only been there for about three minutes, but what she had been told at least relieved her.

"I see now why you're called the Light Savior… couldn't think of anyone else to keep things on track here. Just keep in mind it's not what you are, but what you do with your power that determines whether you're right or wrong."

She hoped Donovan and Gallon would be all right as she stood up and smiled. Whatever was going on, she'd do her part to set things right.

A knock at her door was answered by an invitation to come in, and Blade stepped in, although on wobbly legs.

"Still reeling from the exorcism," Anita commented as she her eyes drifted to the bracelet Blade wore. "Why don't you just fix it?"

Blade shook her head, "I can only pull off miracles with this, and they're few and far between. Brian and I will recover soon enough, and Miki should be able to carry the torch long enough in the tournament rounds."

"And if not, then you'll use the bracelet anyways?"

"Exactly. But I came here for another reason, however."

Anita grinned. "_You're_ worried about Simon's next match? Against Gouki?"

"I've got a few questions to ask about him, yes. Namely, what is he capable of?"

Anita sighed. "For a human, quite a bit. The power known as the 'Satsu No Hadou' is a force similar to the dynamics of the Excel Drive, but instead of surviving at any cost, the force strengthens the user to win at any cost, even if it means killing."

"Doesn't sound too bad," Blade mused.

"Gouki's obscenely strong, however," Anita continued. "Killed off two serious troublemakers here, Bison and Gill, and their organizations ended up drifting into the backwaters… although that Vega is trying to get Shadoloo up and running again."

"Any chance he'd kill Simo-"

"No," Anita interrupted. "And least I don't think he'd kill Simon considering what we know about him. He never kills except in the case of pre-agreed deathmatches. And besides… doesn't Simon _need_ to be in a life-or-death situation to regain the Excel Drive?"

Blade chuckled. "I cannot believe I forgot all about that…"

* * *

Chun Li practically swore out loud as she sat in front of a computer terminal, trying to crack the password after her umpteenth guess.

"Having trouble?" came a voice behind her, speaking in more of a questioning manner than one wondering what she was doing there… knocking a technician out and stealing his outfit had worked out well… and the hat the Interpol agent wore covered her trademark buns nicely.

"Yeah…" Chun Li said in an annoyed voice, stepping aside and motioning at it. "This piece of shit won't take the password."

The other technician seemed to fall for it, walking over and opening access for her before walking away.

Chun Li sighed silently as she opened up several windows, reading off several files. No doubt about it now: Vega really had managed to make a new Psycho Driver…

A sudden chill fell on the room, and Chun Li felt what seemed to be cold steel press against the top of her head and its sides.

"Detective," Vega mused. "If I knew you were coming, I would've baked a cake."

A/N: Well… writing this out sure took awhile. But it's time to move on, and pit Simon Tyer against Gouki's destructive in Survival Intent vs. Murderous Intent!


	15. Survival Intent vs Murderous Intent

A/N: I don't own this. You know that already. And please… if you like this, please review. It doesn't take long and I'd like to hear your opinions. Even if you're gonna flame me, go ahead. Just put why you don't like it and sounds at least marginally rational.

"Seven hundred thirty two… seven hundred thirty three…"

Blade woke up to see Simon on the floor, doing push-ups at a slow but steady rate. The Alcemian smiled as she sat up and looked at him with a sleepy smile. "You're gonna tire yourself out before your big match if you keep that up, Simon."

Simon just grinned and kept going. "Just warming up, that's all. I'm gonna take fighting this guy seriously. What about you?"

Blade got to her feet and staggered for a few moments before locking her legs in place. "Getting better, but nowhere near as good as I'd hope. But at this rate... Owikamki should be okay in her match against whoever they've slated her against until Brian and I are better. Did you check the brackets?"

"Yeah… some team of the younger people in those World Warrior tournaments."

"Heh… hope she goes easy on them"

* * *

Unfortunately, as Miki got up after a nice long rest in Flare's arms, she quickly found that somebody had taken her insults of ninjas a bit too personally.

As the Darkinarki walked over to the dresser, she opened the drawer reserved for her fighting outfits to see a small package the only contents. Perturbed, Miki opened it up to find a letter in it simply saying _'We settle this in our match Ibuki'_ and then a collection of those damned ninja outfits.

Clenching a fist and suppressing the desire to go on a killing spree, Miki tossed the contents over to Flare who looked at it and almost grinned.

"Somebody finally showed you up. How does it feel?" Flare asked, taking the situation less seriously as Miki had.

After letting out a long sigh and opening another one of the drawers, Miki's temperament improved a bit. She reached for another bundle and shook her head. "Feels bad, but now I have an excuse to open this."

* * *

"You gonna try again to talk him out of it?" Ken asked to Ryu as he caught his breath after his friend's third match.

Ryu answered. "He thinks he's some fantastic upstart. He doesn't understand becoming a great fighter takes time… a lot of time."

"I know what I'm doing, dammit," came Simon's voice as he stepped into the room, heading towards the arena entrance. His fighting outfit differed slightly from his previous short-sleeved black shirt and blue pants, now replacing his shirt with a long-sleeved black one and a short-sleeved blue one over it.

Ryu sighed. If he really felt he could do it, nobody would be able to talk him out of it. Ryu himself had some people saying he'd be murdered by Sagat in the first World Warrior tournament… and to an extent they were right… that brief scrape with the Satsu no Hadou being the only thing that saved him. "Fine. Just don't lose yourself in the heat of the moment."

"Heat?" Simon asked, cocking an eyebrow, "When do I ever complain about heat?"

Simon kept walking out, noticing, oddly enough, the stadium was bare… no audience… turning to the referee, Simon opened his mouth to ask why but was already answered.

"Nobody watches Gouki's matches… too brutal," the ref answered, slightly shaking Simon as he took a single deep breath.

_Keep a cool head… you panic and you're dead._

Simon's blood almost froze as the murderous fighter suddenly appeared on the other side of the arena, his red eyes only making him appear more demonic. So _this_ was how the guy looked…

Gouki just looked up and down Simon, nodding once before dropping into the horse stance. "Ready?"

Quickly stretching his legs, Simon nodded.

"Good…" Gouki said as he suddenly vanished, materializing behind Simon almost instantly and grabbing him by his arms and then kicking Simon in the back. Simon kicked back into Gouki's back, but the impact only caused Gouki to pull on his arms even harder.

Suddenly a pair of burgundy-hued explosions blasted from Simon's hands, but again Gouki used the Asura warp technique again to appear in front of Simon, punching him in the gut. His hand shot out, grabbing Simon by the hair and holding the dazed half-Syken before punching him ruthlessly in the face over and over again, finally tossing him away like a rag-doll.

"Damn…" Simon grunted as he got to his feet, seeing a Gouhadouken flying straight at him. He barely managed to jump to the side and evade it and then lunged at his assailant, only to see him leap in the air and shoot another volley of purple-tinted fireballs. Simon jumped at Gouki and threw up the Chaos Gauntlet technique to deflect the attacks before slamming his shoulder into the Ansatsuken fighter and knocking them both down.

Unfortunately Gouki simply shot into an uppercut, again hitting Simon in the chin and knocking them both up. He then grabbed Simon's leg and tossed him back to the earth, another flurry of hadoukens after him that Simon managed to counter with his own Variable Fireballs.

Gouki landed silently and looking at the panting fighter with a look of disgust. "If you keep holding back, then I'll have to kill you. Nobody should hide a power such as yours to the world."

"Believe me…" Simon panted as he tried to upright himself, "I'm giving it my all. If you have problems, take it up with the bastards my friends killed two days ago that were behind me not being able to fight all out."

"So it's that case then…" Gouki said quietly as a sphere of negative energy was built up in his hands. He then thrust it out, the Messatsu Gou Hadou covering the distance almost instantly and blasting through Simon, dropping him to his knees. "If this is your limit, I feel no shame in pressuring you with lethal techniques." He again appeared in front of Simon, punching at Simon's face only to have the fist caught as Simon tried to hold it back.

"It's not my fault you bastard!" Simon yelled, "Now lay off!" His other hand chopped down at Gouki's elbow, causing the older fighter some pain before another punch caught him in the face. Simon then kneed him in the groin and kicked him away, just to get another fireball shot at him.

_Dammit!_ Simon thought as the purple burning attack came at him, _Come on, Simon. Take this bastard out no matter what it takes. He's a fricken' tank, but you can do it! I WON'T LOSE!_

There was a flash of blue from Simon right before the Gouhadouken detonated on impact, and Gouki sighed and looked at Ryu and Ken, who had seen the attack. Gouki's attention went back to the match, however, when panting came from the smoke as it drifted away, revealing a Simon that looked quite a bit different from what Gouki had been fighting before.

The skin and hair were now dark blue… and Simon's muscle build had improved to an acceptable level… but what was the most alien of this form was the thin, blood red visor across his eye level.

Gouki smiled. "Some alternate form?"

Simon nodded as he snapped the visor off, showing the only thing about him that hadn't changed was his eyes were still grey... a simple act showing he hadn't fallen into some murderous riot. "Yeah… and you're in a heap of Hell now!" He charged again, hoping this time would be different.

* * *

Anya grinned as she viewed Simon's transformation into his Syken form, sitting back and relaxing.

"Good… he looks close enough to him."

* * *

_Dammit!_ Simon swore as Gouki calmly held back the punch with his left hand, showing no stress whatsoever in gripping the fist and then squeezing as red energy flared up around him.

"Is this the best you can do?" Gouki growled as his Simon was forced down onto one knee, the taller fighter's hair and eyes fading away into milky white.

"Gouki! Stop it!" Ken shouted from the sidelines.

The Ansatsuken killer turned and looked at Ryu and Ken in disgust, then turning to see two people, a young man and woman Simon's own age, walking next to them. _Tyer's associates…_ Gouki thought as he finished bringing out his full power. If Simon Tyer's best at the moment was only sub-par, then there wasn't any worth in beating around the bush.

The now "Shin" Gouki brought back his hand back and then thrust it forward again, utilizing the mountain-splitting "Kongou Kokuretsu Zan" technique and striking at Simon's head…

Only to see Simon bend out of the way, a glint of something else in Simon's eyes now.

_So actually attacking him with a lethal move was all it took…_ Gouki thought as he Simon's fist was enflamed with a burgundy fire as the flames began to sear at Gouki's hand before Simon kicked him away, catching his breath. "I understand now… that is how you fight."

"What do you mean?" Simon asked, only to have Gouki warp behind him and grab Simon's left arm and kick Simon out, pulling the arm at a painful angle.

"It's like a salmon… by default you're nothing fantastic, but when it comes to the survival of your species, you can do impressive things. Too bad you just fight with whatever pops into your head."

"Not… ex…actly!" Simon shouted as he spun on his feet, spinning Gouki and knocking him to the ground before punching the fighter and springing away. "I had a good teacher… I might not know what to do in a fight, but I know what not to do so my mistakes are usually not that costly! Plus… I can't hit like a tank, but it takes more than just strength to beat me down." He thrust his hand out, a sudden and very intense gust of wind blasting into Gouki and pushing him back. Simon then charged, letting the wind push and accelerate him before reaching Gouki and kick.

The white-haired fighter raised a leg to block the attack and then returned the favor, planting his leg in Simon's gut and rolling back to throw him out of bounds. He didn't expect Simon to grab him by his wrists and call up another strong wind so instead of throwing Simon, Gouki got dragged across the sand before Simon's other leg struck down into _his_ gut.

* * *

Watching Simon manage to keep up more-or-less with Gouki, Brian couldn't help but whistle. "Never guessed he could transform without all of the Excel Drive…"

"The what?" Ken asked to him.

"Just a power that strengthens Simon whenever he's in a life-or-death situation. It's complicated…" Blade started, but Ryu cut her off.

"It still makes no sense. Gouki keeps talking about using lethal attacks and going all out… but he hasn't used… _it_."

"It?" Brian asked.

Ken suddenly realized what he was talking about. "Yeah… the Shun Goku Satsu… the Instant Hell Murder… Gouki hasn't even bothered taking it out yet."

"It's because he's still holding back…" Blade answered, causing Ryu and Ken to drop their jaws in shock. "He can't fight Simon at his best, even though it looks like Simon got back the Anger part of the Excel Drive… so he's doing the next best thing."

"You mean… he's taken an estimate of Simon's full power and his current power and then balanced out the difference in terms of his own strength?" Ryu asked.

"It looks that way. This way, Gouki gets the experience of feeling what the fight would be like if Simon and Gouki were both as strong as they could be."

* * *

Gouki grinned as a Variable Fireball was shoved right in his face and detonated, leaving the top part of his gi in tatters before knocking Simon away with a single punch.

_Fantastic… with each mortal attack I send at him… his power increases to overcome the challenge… just like a fish leaping upstream. This 'Excel Drive' certainly lives up to its name._ Gouki quickly teleported in front of Simon, catching the punch and canceling the incinerating heat with his own flames. Suddenly Simon's other hand came out of nowhere, backhanding Gouki across the face. It wasn't much, but it still burned. Gouki mercilessly slammed his head into Simon's and then tossed him up in the air. _Let's see what amazing trick you can do to get out of this, Simon Tyer!_

Spinning in the air, Simon called up a gust of wind to move him out of the way of the approaching Gouhadouken, tossing another round of Variable Fireballs down at his enemy before landing. "Feeling tired? Too bad, because I could do this all day…" he charged just to suffer against the electrical Hurricane Kick, but as Simon fell, he grabbed onto Gouki's vertical leg and shot back up…

Striking Gouki low. Very low.

"Fight to win," Simon growled as his knee connected with Gouki's head. Unfortunately, a purple pillar of Hadou energy shot down from the heavens, and Gouki rose up to meet it, blasting through Simon with an unbelievably strong Messatsu Gou Shoryu, sending Simon to the ground in a crumpled heap as Gouki looked at him with disgust.

"So I finally struck with the force to overcome your Survival Intent…" Gouki sighed as he again charged up a Messatsu Gou Hadou. "It was an excellent fight, Simon Tyer… but now I have to kill you…"

"GOUKI!" Ryu shouted, only to be held back by a cheap projectile by the killer.

Slowly getting up, Simon silently swore. _Shit… there's no way I'm gonna be able buy the time to counter that…_ He took a look behind him and saw the wall. _Unless… _He sprang at the wall, spinning as his hands became illuminated by a ruby-red shine. _Here hopes this works…_

"Messatsu Gou-"

"Punk Ruby-"

"HADOU!"

"SOUTH WIND!" Simon shouted as he kicked off, shooting straight at the purple beam of ultimate destruction. This one wasn't like the others… Gouki really _was _pulling out all the stops this time.

"He's gonna be blown to pieces!" Ken shouted in utter horror. Even Blade and Brian could tell that Simon wouldn't be able to survive getting hit by that kind of attack, even at his best.

"It's over…" Ryu sighed, clenching his fists. _Damn you Gouki… how many good people do you have to kill?_

* * *

"Ready?" Flare asked as Miki looked at the letter in her hand and the white cloth on her lap.

The Darkinarki nodded. "Yeah, but first there's still somebody I should root for before I kick that ninja's ass.

* * *

Just as Simon reached his destruction, his course changed instantly. "EAST WIND!" A sudden sideways blast of wind maneuvered Simon to the side of the attack, and Gouki could only look in horror as Simon's hands shot out right in front of his face. "OSCILATORS: FIRE!"

As potent as Simon's other attacks at Gouki had been, the blue-skinned fighter's latest took the cake, blasting Gouki away as if he were nothing, the two oscillating beams tearing and ripping at Gouki's very body before the dark Ansatsuken fighter collapsed on the ground.

The referee crawled out of a protective crater and looked at Simon, who had reverted back to being a full human… and an exhaustive one at that. "Did… did I beat him?"

"NO!" came a voice as Gouki suddenly was in front of him again, blasting out another purple beam of death that engulfed Simon… the few spectators completely silent in shock.

But as the dust settled… a figure was still standing.

Simon.

His entire upper apparel had been vaporized, showing the world the scrawny lack of muscle that belied the strength beyond what most could imagine. Half his face was covered in blood… and most of his chest looked as if a car had hit him. Gouki looked unsurprised, however.

"I put too much into the blast you dodged," he scoffed as he walked away. "The one that hit you was barely a tenth of its predecessor's yield."

Simon coughed up more than a pint of blood as he stuck his left hand into the air, tears mixing with the blood on his face. "We're… not done here… just yet, Gouki! What do you say… can you take just… _one more attack_ from me?"

Gouki looked amused. "Don't make me laugh. You barely have the strength to stand… you couldn't conjure up the Chi… wait, I'm sorry, _Gen_," he corrected, "for the weakest of breezes."

"Don't… count me out!" Simon barked, bloodshot eyes wide open and looking at Gouki as a single snowflake drifted to the ground.

On the sidelines, Blade was smiling. "Show him up, Simon."

Brian also seemed to regain his hope of Simon's victory as more and more snowflakes fell to the ground, ice beginning to coat the entire stadium.

* * *

Anya had expected the fight to be over sooner… but the Maximoff matriarch was still enjoying the battle, and the current twist pleased her greatly.

A sudden cracking caused her to look down at her wine cup… the drink had frozen solid and shattered the glass.

"He's taking in the heat of the arena…"

* * *

Gouki stood unmoved as Simon struggled to keep standing, an intense burgundy flame building up in his raised hand. "Is that the most power you can handle?" Gouki asked.

"No!" Simon shouted back as his hands suddenly igniting. The currently human fighter yelled in agony as the flames seared into his arms as they traveled up to the orb. _Just a little…_

Gouki never let him finish. Instead the murderer simply shot a punch into Simon's stomach, and the eighteen-year-old spat out another pint of blood as Gouki hopped away… Simon falling as hope died.

_Sorry…_ Simon thought as he fell to the ground… _I just can't beat…_

"SIMON!" came another voice as he turned to see the newcomer as he fell in slow motion, finally landing.

"ONE!" the referee shouted

Miki was there… the strategic assassin. She knew what to do. "YOU DUMBASS, YOU!"

"TWO!"

"YOU'VE STILL GOT THE PYRO BLASTER CHARGED UP!"

"THREE!"

"USE IT!"

"FOUR!"

_She's right! I ring Gouki out…_

"FIVE!"

_AND I WIN!_

"SIX!"

"PUNK RED SALAMANDER!"

"SEVEN!"

Gouki looked in shock as the accumulated heat of the entire arena became channeled into a single stream of fire that hit him before he even knew it was there. _Such power! _Gouki thought as he managed to hold the fire back, but still losing ground to it. Gouki called upon every ounce of strength he had, and yet he still had to give ground to the technique.

"EIGHT!"

Ryu, Blade, Brian, Ken, and Miki all looked to see what would be the result. Gouki was at the boundary…

"NINE!"

With a final shout of power, Gouki tore through the flames and parted them, panting as his hair returned to its red color.

"TEN! THE WINNER IS GOU-"

The master just walked up to referee and punched him once before walking over to Simon and picking him up forcefully.

"Do you know what this is?" Gouki asked as he raised up his foot. Simon could barely see out of his eyes, but he saw it: a grain of black sand.

Gouki had touched the ground outside of the ring, and Simon had won. The Satsu no Hadou user just looked over at Ryu and Ken and sighed. "They'll never understand me," he growled. "They think the Killing Intent is something that controls me… but I will never kill without reason."

"I… never would've… guessed…" Simon barely mouthed.

Gouki scowled at Simon and then at Miki. "She your teacher? She knew her stuff today." He tossed Simon on the ground as Brian ran to help him up. Gouki stopped and turned again. "I'm expecting you to bring out Ryu and Ken's best… otherwise we'll have another fight, and I _will _use the Shun Goku Satsu."

He nodded and was gone.

As Brian helped carry Simon away, the latter grinned, knowing he had to time this right.

"What a nice guy," he said as he passed Ryu and Ken, the Alcemian entourage leaving the two alone.

* * *

"And now it's your turn to be bedridden!" Blade said triumphantly as she dumped the young man she loved on their bed.

"Only until I get back my Syken half and can burn myself back to life."

"That'll take some time, Simon," Blade chimed as she walked out of the room and called out, "I'm going to watch Owikamki's fight. Be sure to rest up while I'm gone!"

* * *

Ibuki grinned as she looked at her friends from the last World Warrior tournament… although they all had been fairly green that time and were quickly dispatched by the older fighters, Ibuki knew that she, Makoto, Yun, Yang Lee, and even Sean had gotten a lot better.

And there was always the little "present" she had given Owikamki to show her ninjas weren't people you insulted.

As the second stadium's doors opened, they all watched as a single member of Team Guns & Roses walked out to face them… Owikamki… but something was different.

Her outfit was mainly white, with long sleeves and parts cut out and replaced by black cloth… Ibuki didn't know it, but her opponent was wearing the clothes of a Sacred Assassin.

"Shall we?" Miki asked as the crowd roared. No overly-powerful psychos here to scare them off… or so they think… Miki thought.

She was going to enjoy this.

A/N: In a five-on-one clash, Miki must use every technique and maneuver she ever thought up to hold out against Ibuki's assault while Lillith confronts the revived Jedah. In the meantime, the charged-up Vega battles against Gouki to prove his superiority in Sacred Assassin… Owikamki?

P.S. If you're going to review any chapter, please review this one. It would mean a lot to me if somebody could at least comment on the Simon vs. Gouki fight and whether they liked or hated it.


	16. Sacred Assassin Owikamki?

A/N: You know, reviewing would really speed up the update process… but to my single reviewer…

Unknown: Yeah, I heard about the ideas of Lillith being part angel, but I agree it was a pretty bad idea. Besides, Lillith is the excess evil energy of Morrigan. As for Anita fighting, don't worry. She's in the tournament, after all… and who knows? Anita doesn't fight to kill, unlike Gouki… and that means even the great Simon Tyer doesn't have an edge over her. As for Lillith's power boost from Kirin, I just wanted to do it. And as for Gen and Holy energy not mixing, that's not the case. Gen is just like Chi, you can use it for everything. Balteria's element WAS Holy, and he used both Gen and Chi, for instance. And as for the Anita's age thing, guess I goofed up somewhere. Oh well, It's not an amateur fanfic without a few plotholes somewhere.

As Blade, Brian, and Bulleta were struck speechless due to Miki's new outfit as they sat in the stadium, Flare handed them a letter. They flipped it open and quickly scanned its contents, breathing a sigh of relief and knowing Miki was just wearing it out of necessity… she still was no Sacred Assassin.

_Miki…  
I know in your heart, you consider yourself betrayed by those of your race that you discovered were Sacred Assassins. You probably even feel ashamed of sharing our blood… but it matters not. I'm sorry I never got the chance to meet you in person, but I've seen the people you've had the opportunity to meet and shape, and I can see you live up to your reputation. If nothing else, consider this outfit, the amalgamation of your traditional black outfit and the white of a Sacred Assassin, a gift from the Order of a race to its Chaotic counterpart.  
Leveda_

"Done yet?" Flare asked before getting the letter handed back to him. "Thanks…"

Bulleta grinned as she looked at Miki. "You better win this, Owikamki… I won't like it if Lernan's team loses, dammit."  
---------------------------------  
"I still stand by my statement," Miki said as she looked at Ibuki, "Ninjas are nothing great." She noticed as the three boys in the team, Sean, Yun, and Yang Lee, stepping away as Makoto and Ibuki just glared at their sole adversary.

"Then I'll show you as soon as the referee starts the match," Ibuki answered, getting confused as Miki pulled out a small sack from her pockets. "Wha?"

Miki undid the opening and dipped in, taking out of it a handful of black sand. "You know what this is?"

"Sand you stole from the ring-out part of the arena?" Makoto answered.

Miki, however, just looked off to the side and let some of the sand fall in between her fingers and grin. "I hate smart-mouths… partially because I'm one too, but you're right. But black sand is something unique… because even on a pitch-black night, you can practically see it coming a mile away. And when it comes…" Miki swung her hand, neither Ibuki nor Makoto moving as the wave of the sand swept over them, "It _hurts_. I don't give a damn if somebody has a whole day's notice if I'm coming or not… I'll make due. And at the very least… I'm no hired thug."

_Yeah... but you're quite the bitch!_ Ibuki swore as the team readied to take on their single adversary.  
---------------------------------  
Lillith smiled as she splashed some water on her face and let the day's stress from being a referee fade away. Simon, Hsien-Ko, and Anita had all made it to the quarterfinals, and even though that Vega guy and Demitri had also made it, Lillith felt things should be okay. Plus, Ryu and Ken had lived up to their reputation and made it too, or so Lillith had heard, and the two Ansatsuken fighters would certainly know which side to fight on if things went downhill.

As she looked up, however, her blood froze as she saw the figure's reflection in the mirror.

Jedah.

Almost instantly, Lillith's outfit as an official melted away and was replaced by her classic red clothing as turned and faced the Vampire Savior.

"What do you want?" she asked. There wasn't any weakness in her voice, and her gaze matched Jedah's in its intensity.

Jedah looked at her for a moment before answering. "There's something different about you…" he said as he continued looking at her. "Something…"

Jedah didn't finish however, instead he opted to simply generate a sickle with mind and have it appear near Lillith's neck to slash it out. As expected, however, Lillith had managed to catch it with her bare hand and throw it back to Jedah.

"If you're here to fight, then it can wait a few more days," Lillith answered as her black soul ignited around here, only to be matched by Jedah's own.

"Alcemian Soul-Ignition… I wonder where you learned that?" Jedah asked before turning away. "I don't know what's worse; Kirin having you as a lap-dog or as her student." Before Lillith could even respond to this, a pool of blood appeared under Jedah and he vanished into it.

And suddenly Lillith was feeling that this whole struggle wasn't over yet.  
---------------------------------  
The five members of Team Neo World Warrior charged at Miki, who stood her ground against the attack. As five fists shot at her, she flicked her hand across their path, and Yun, Sean, Yang, Makoto, and Ibuki all ended up punching each other instead.

"More teamwork," Miki commanded as they backed away. Yun and Yang regrouped first and charged again, each sending flying kicks. Surprisingly, as soon as Miki bent out of the way of the attack, her legs were knocked out from under her by one of Sean's Hadoukens.

To be fair, it didn't hurt much, but it did cause Miki to recoil forward and get kicked in the face and get knocked to the ground.

"One! Two!" The referee shouted before Miki sprang back to her feet, silently swearing.

_Crap… and the time is cumulative, too…_ Miki thought as she sprung back up and gave herself some distance. _Okay… just take this one move at a time…_

The five charged again, this time much faster. Miki bent to the left out of Makoto's straightforward punch and then dropped back to the ground, stopping herself at the last second with her hand. She rolled away, spinning her feet at them. Thankfully, Sean took a harsh blow to the side and was knocked back.

"Anybody else?" Miki asked through clenched teeth. They were coordinated, Miki had to give them that.

"Yeah!" Makoto shouted as she aggressively charged with Ibuki, each of them jumping to the side when Miki chopped vertically down at them. The Darkinarki immediately sprang up and kicked them both in the guts with her feet, but they grabbed onto the appendages as Yun and Yang came charging back… striking Miki with a series of hand-jabs that left the older fighter staggering back when she managed to break free.

"Stop thinking we're amateurs," Ibuki scolded Miki, "You're not that good yourself." The five stood assembled, ready for the next move Miki might try…

…But they hadn't expected her to charge at them and ready a punch. Ibuki instinctively ran to slide into Miki's feet and give her teammates the opening… but she hadn't expected Miki to jump back instantly. Ibuki's eyes went wide as Miki punched down into Ibuki's gut, pulled her up and then tossed her at Team Neo World Warrior. They dodged their ninja friend, but the distraction gave Miki the opportunity to smash her elbows into Yang and Sean and then punch out, sending them out of bounds.

"Two down," Miki said as she looked at the remaining three.

"You haven't won yet," Yun growled, "And I'll pay you back for what you did to my brother!" The three sprang back at Miki, found herself on the defensive again as she looked for a weak point in their attacks. Eventually Miki stamped her feet into Makoto's and then kicked upwards, taking the karate fighter with her and tossing her out of the ring as well.

"Seriously… there's a lot of dangerous people in this tournament… and you guys are good… I'll grant you that," Miki said as she looked at the two, "but you're in over your heads if you can't eve beat me."

"Says you!" Yun shouted as he gathered his energy up for an attack before looking at Ibuki. "When I give you the opening, hit her with everything you got."

Ibuki nodded… knowing what Yun was planning. Miki, on the other hand, just stood there, preparing as best she could.

Then it came… Yun dashing forward and then past her, and suddenly Miki's entire nervous center was on fire from countless strikes landed in a handful of seconds. She dropped down on all fours as Ibuki kicked her in the gut and sent her spinning, Sean, Yang, and Makoto cheering on their friends as Miki got back to her feet.

_That move… that was no traditional move somebody learns…_ Miki thought,_ That Yun kid knows his assassination techniques… or at least the basics of executing them… Okay… now how to counter it?_

Miki ran at them again, what else was there to do? Ibuki jumped at her, and Miki quickly shot her hand up and caught the ninja in mid-air, only to fall victim again to Yun's rendition of his late Master Gen's (no relation whatsoever to the Chaotic life force which shared the same name) Zan'Ei. Miki had never expected an attack to hurt so much as she was again knocked to the ground.

"Three! Four! Five!"

The assassin was up before six, both her fists pounding into Ibuki and Yun before jumping away. Ibuki, however, was grinning. "Not as good as you claimed, eh?" she asked.

Miki was tempted point out that she still wasn't up to full strength after the Point Singularity Fist, but instead took a nice deep breath and cracked her neck. "I'm far from beat," she said, just before another bolt of pain coursed through her body. With the opening, Ibuki and Yun charged. _SHIT! That thing must hit pressure points or something!_ Powering through the pain, Miki lashed out still, and Yun took a harsh uppercut before being thrown out of bounds too. "Time to slaughter the ninja… joy," Miki mused before charging.

Ibuki slowly began sweating. Things were not looking up for her, and this goddamn tournament forbade using any foreign object for offensive purposes! But a ninja still trained for everything, and she sidestepped Miki's strike and struck several more pressure points before jumping away and grinning. "Game over."

"What?"

Ibuki shrugged. "Your Chi flow… it's fried. You couldn't hit hard enough to do anything to me now."

Miki, however, just curled her fingers into a fist and charged. "But what about _Gen_?"

_You mean that old guy?_ Ibuki thought before she took a punch to the jaw full-force. The ninja stumbled back, getting another punch, this one to the stomach before Miki swung her lower body around and kicked into the back of Ibuki's knees. The younger girl fell backwards onto the ground and was then forcefully punted by Miki halfway across the arena.

"One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven!"

Ibuki slowly managed to get to her feet while glaring at Miki, who had decided to not take a step towards Ibuki the whole time and instead looked at her.

"Showing my face to the people I kill" Miki said as Ibuki charged, striking as fast as she could… even though Miki effortlessly blocked each punch and kick. "It's what separates you from me…"

"I thought the difference was you were an arrogant bitch," Ibuki growled as she did her best to use an uppercut to slip past Miki's defenses, only for the redhead to sidestep the attack and kick Ibuki in her side.

"Just because I think I'm right doesn't make me automatically correct," Miki answered, "I may be arrogant, but I can afford to be. The point is I don't take assassination jobs for money, no life is worth any denominational amount. The difference is…" she caught Ibuki's wrists and backhanded the ninja, "I throw stealth to the wind when I _do_ kill somebody... it's the professional courtesy to let your victim know who killed them."

As Ibuki punched again, Miki ducked down and grabbed her enemy's arm, flipping the last member of the team out of bounds.

Brian and Blade cheered for their team representative, carrying the torch for all three of them as Miki walked away. Even Bulleta had to be thankful the woman that had chopped off her arms had come through in the end.  
---------------------------------  
"Thinking the same thing I am?" Gallon asked as he and Donovan stood on the rooftops, looking down at the Onio campus.

"Why an Inter-Spatial Matter Transporter would just _happen_ to have been found by Morrigan only a few weeks ago here that would have specified coordinates to Alcemian cities?" Donovan responded before jumping down.

"Exactly," Talbain answered, deciding since stealth was utterly impossible for him, to just howl out madly and barrel headlong into the situation would be the best thing to do.

Although the security guards had simply raised their eyebrows and assumed cautious stances when Donovan came into view, they literally broke and ran when Gallon dove at them from above like a bat out of Hell.

"And onward!" the werewolf shouted as he ran into the building, Donovan wishing his associate had a little more restraint.

And so it went in a predictable pattern… Gallon running into a room, snapping his jaws a few times while putting on an excellent show and scaring everyone away before running off to the next room, Donovan following behind while trying to pinpoint something that wasn't… human.

Eventually they reached a pair of advanced-looking double doors, pausing as they saw a man standing there haughtily and leaning against the doors.

"Hello you two… interested in my lowly little college?" asked the man that Donovan and Gallon assumed was Thayro.

"More in what's behind that door, Doppelganger," Donovan answered as he readied Dylek.

The demon laughed as he looked up to the sky, his appearance shifting into a black humanoid creature before reforming as Donovan himself. "You're as good as they said, Donovan Baine…"

"And any desire to tell just what is going on here?" Gallon asked, feeling as if his own personal weapon was less-than-adequate when compared to his associate's.

The Doppelganger changed form again, this time into Morrigan, and pulled out a large diamond. "Just setting everything up. But it's… _amazing_… a diamond was thought to be unbreakable, indestructible in ancient times. Not unlike the half-Syken… able to withstand blows that would be considered overpowered."

"What's that to do with anything?" Gallon asked again, beginning to be irritated by the beating around the bush.

The shapeshifter morphed one last time, taking Miki's form. "Imagine the kind of prestige that came to the prehistoric man that amazed crowds when he finally did break that unbreakable diamond."

_Enough talk!_ Donovan thought as he charged and split the figure in half and then lighting it on fire. "Clever…" he said as he jumped back before a tendril lashed out at him. "You have no solid form, do you?"

"Let's see what the great Vampire Hunter can do!" the demon shouted as he sprang at the two, assuming the appearance of a black bouncy ball, of all things. Unfortunately for it, Donovan slashed down at it as Gallon rocketed forward, red-white flames flaring up from the burning comet of destruction, the demon barely recovering from the incision and unable to dodge as it was smashed through the doors into the room with the teleporter.

"We can keep this up all day," Jon said as he cracked his knuckles before the demon lost the remains of its structure and settled on just being a slow-moving blob. The creature tried to launch itself into battle, but was frozen solid before Donovan sprang into the air and smashed down with Dylek, shattering the block of ice and then burning the remains away.

"But we don't have all day," Donovan answered as he walked over to the contraption. "Seems simple enough to operate…"

"Think there's something going on in Alcemia that shouldn't?"

"Isn't that how these things work?" Donovan answered.  
---------------------------------  
_Okay… let's check again…_ Simon thought as he forced himself up in the bed and then stood up. Staggering to the bathroom, Simon checked the mirror.

_Paydirt!_ He thought. His blue strand of hair, the sign that his Syken DNA was no longer dormant, was again visible. Grabbing the sink for support, Simon turned his head when he heard somebody knocking on the door. "Just a moment!" Channeling his soul into a burgundy flame, Simon let the blazing fire envelop him, allowing his Syken blood handle the rest and restore him to full strength before he grabbed his rudius and walked over to the door. "Who's there?"

"Me, Anita," the Light Savior answered from the other side. Simon opened it up, and the woman handed him a scrap of paper before looking at the wooden sword in Simon's hand. "Do you always greet people that knock on your door with a lethal weapon?"

"Sorry," Simon answered as he sheathed it, "There's a lot of people out there that would've thought I would've been crippled, and some of them might've been dumb enough to try something."

"Old habits die hard, then," Anita answered. "That paper has the location where the quarter-finalists are all supposed to meet. I suggest to take anything you might need; Jedah might have something planned to do with Anya."

"Thanks," Simon answered, heading back and grabbing his other sword before walking out with Anita. As they rounded the bend, they both stopped, surprised to see who was in front of them.

"Simon," Gouki said as he looked at the young man that had defeated him in battle, if only by a technicality. "Whatever happens, don't die out there. It would be a shame for somebody with the strength you are still reclaiming to suffer such a fate."

"I'm sure," Simon answered as he and Anita walked past him and headed down the stairs, Gouki still just standing there.

"Fantastic monologue," came the Spanish voice of the assassin named Vega as he suddenly materialized. "Who would expect the homicidal master of the Satsu no Hadou to give encouraging words to a young boy?"

"His power increased from below mediocre ranking to nearly mine in over the course of just one year," Gouki answered as he clenched his fists, "Someone that put that kind of effort in training is someone I would respect."

Vega, however, just slid on his mask and sighed. "Such a shame, though. And here I thought the Murderous Intent was something that could overcome nearly anything. It looks like the great Gouki is growing weak in ol-"

He never finished. Gouki instantly teleported at him and took hold. It meant one thing.

The Instant Hell Murder… the Shun Goku Satsu… the technique that would attack the target's soul and send it to Hell, where all the demons ever imagined would attack, the strikes being more and more painful with every sin one would commit.

The world went black for a split second for both Vega and Gouki, then fifteen fierce blows were heard, but when light returned…

… Gouki was on the ground, Vega's claws impaling him mercilessly.

"Senile old fool," Vega scoffed as he tore out the Ansatsuken fighter's heart and then a little something else, "You think with my kind of power, any ordinary demon would dare lay a hand on me?" He walked away, a sadistic grin appearing as he knew exactly where to go next.

Bring it on, Anya Maximoff, Simon Tyer, Anita, and whoever else would dare stand against him.

Bison was no longer the strongest user of Psycho Power in history…  
---------------------------------  
Cammy sat in the locker room as she rubbed her bruised arms… they'd be okay in a couple of hours though and she and the others were now in the Quarter Finals of the team matches at the very least. Now if…

"Fantastic fight this time," came a voice that caused Cammy's blood to freeze. She turned, seeing Vega standing there with a bouquet of white roses in one hand, and his other hand projecting Psycho Power into the form of a giant claw. "For you…" He tossed her the roses, but Cammy let them fall.

"I'd never accept a gift from you," she said as she kicked them away. Vega looked at them with mock horror before turning back and flicking his hand up, the psionically generated claws gently moving across her face, one of them stopping at Cammy's scar.

"Such a pity. I'm tempted to-"

For the second time in ten minutes, Vega was cut short as the whistling of a sword cause him to turn and seeing the three members of Team Guns & Roses standing there… a silver rapier barely missing his face. Provided he hadn't turned to look, Vega knew the weapon would've pierced one of his eyes. The brown-haired young man pointed at Vega, his tips of his middle and index fingers glowing white.

"Try me," Brian Lernan said forcefully.

Vega grinned before another figure stepped out as well, a faint red glimmering in the newcomer's eyes. It was that Aniar fellow… who unsheathed his knife and dropped it to the ground. Stains of black spread across the floor like some vile infection, converging around Vega.

"You can't dodge all of us," Blade said in almost a joyful tone. "And you're not omnipotent. But if you _really_ want to try your luck against five people at the same time… then go ahead."

Weighing his chances, Vega turned away from Cammy, dropping something else before walking away. Cammy looked down, and her throat went dry.

It was Gouki's topknot… coated in blood. She dropped to her knees as Brian, Blade, and Miki looked at her in confusion.

"It's pointless now…" Cammy whispered, "If Vega could kill _Gouki_… then no force ever imagined can stop him now…"

Miki slowly walked over o her. "Get up."

"What?"

"I said get up," Miki repeated. "Have a little faith in those two friends of yours, Ryu and Ken."

"Not to mention Simon, Anita, and Lei-Lei too," Flare added.

"But-" Cammy started to say before Miki pulled her up by her braids.

"Listen, stop worrying," Owikamki said forcefully, "Put some faith in the other people that are carrying the torch for you. Look at my two friends over there. Lernan and Thinwhistle-" Miki calmly caught Blade's other rapier in an obsidian-coated hand and continued talking as if nothing had happened, "Can't give it their all in a fight, and all the stress is on me. Do they have their utmost trust in me? YES! BECAUSE THEY KNOW I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF, DAMMIT! Now am I going to have to give you some bullshit inspirational speech about not giving up or anything along those lines?"

Cammy looked at Miki with a little bit of shock before slowly shaking her head.

"Good," Miki said as her expression softened considerably, "Now just keep your chin up and don't back down." She and the others walked away, leaving Cammy with a renewed sense of strength.  
---------------------------------  
"That's quite a tall order," Jedah mused as he sat at a table, facing opposite of Anya and just having finished listening to her proposition.

"But it requires no originality," Anya pointed out. "All I'm asking for is a complete duplicate save for the inhabitants."

"But Makai is rather large," Jedah said, offering a valid counter-point.

"Make due," Anya said, "If it has to be smaller, then make sure nobody would be able to tell. All I really want is Simon Tyer dead in a climactic battle… if it has to take time, then so be it. Diamonds take a long time to be made in the first place."

A/N: Next chapter, the quarter-finalists pull their numbers, and Simon and Ryu both find themselves in very difficult positions. In the meantime, Miki's words of hard-assedness come back to haunt her when Miki must to battle against Cammy in a battle where the Darkinarki finds herself battling another person that values skill over strength and speed as well in Beginning of the End.


	17. Beginning of the End

A/N: Meh… you know the drill that the only things I own are Alcemia and all of its residents.

Unknown: I'm sorry I can only reach you by this way, but whenever I try to send you an e-mail, it says that your address doesn't exist. My suggestion is to make an account for yourself so you can check my e-mail account and send me something. Then I can actually communicate with you one a more frequent basis.

The waiting room in which Ryu and Ken sat was small, with eight seats arranged around a circular table as the man they only knew as "Kaga" sat by the wall.

Eventually, however, the doors opened again and Lei-Lei (who was holding her talisman), Anita, and Simon all stepped through, Ryu and Ken amazed to see the half-Syken standing without any sign of injury from battling Gouki less than four hours before.

_Just two more…_ Kaga thought as the minutes ticked by before Demitri also stepped in, the lights above him flickering and then looking with disdain at the others. _And they don't recognize me…_ Kaga then cast a glance at Anita and then smiled again. _Not even her or Jedah…_

At long last, Vega walked through the door and Kaga stood up straight and again assumed his accent. "Good… now we can begin."

"But these are the quarter-finals, correct?" Ryu asked, "Aren't there supposed to be _eight?_"

"Regrettably," Kaga started to say, "Due to-"

"I threw his charred body in front of Anya," Demitri answered bluntly. "I believe you were there, Kaga… so don't beat around the bush.'

"Anyways…" Kaga continued, "Due to this abnormality in the brackets, one competitor will advance immediately to the semi-final rounds. To determine the matches themselves…" he snapped his finger as a small dragon appeared in the middle of the table that opened its jaws skyward. "Just reach in and pull out a tooth. There are seven, and the odd-man… or woman… out automatically advances. So…" he leaned forward and looked at all of them. "Who'll go first?"

Five of the fighters showed a split second of hesitancy, but two didn't: Demitri and Vega. The Vampire reached forward…

… but Vega simply impaled it with a Psycho-power generated claw.

"What the Hell? _I didn't say to bloody kill it_!" Kaga shouted in an uncharacteristic manner, Anita, Lei-Lei, and Demitri instantly looking at him again.

Could it really be? No… it would be impossible… Slowly all three of their gazes drifted back to the corpse, seeing Vega had already ripped out one of the teeth.

Anita and Ken both chose very slowly as Simon sat back, weighing his chances. If he ended up fighting Anita in his current state, he'd be doomed… he had seen what she had done to Noed without taking a scratch, and his arsenal of Wind and Fire techniques would be possibly more useless to him than they would be against Miki. Likewise, he didn't want to risk fighting Demitri, merely because he didn't know if the Excel Drive would work against an actual Vampire.

Finally shaking his head one last time, Simon reached into the remains of the little lizard and ripped out…

… the twin of Vega's marker.

Vega grinned as he looked at Simon… barely defeating Gouki, and only by a technicality, was no good omen for him in his next fight.

Finally, Ryu and Hsien-Ko ended up with the respective matches for Demitri and Anita, causing Ken to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Then its settled," Kaga said as he walked away, "The quarter final matches will be Simon vs. Vega, Lei-Lei vs. Anita, Demitri vs. Ryu, with Ken awaiting his fight in the semi-finals then. You are all free to go, just return here at the stroke of midnight tonight. Otherwise, you will be disqualified."

"No problem," Vega answered as he walked out without a care in the world.

Taking a nice, long breath, Simon stood up as the entire group filed out in silence, but froze the second someone put a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Ryu looking at him in a concerned, yet hard look.

"You barely got out of your last fight with your life… and yet you're standing here as if it never happened… and now you're going to fight somebody even stronger than that. How do you do it?"

Simon took another deep breath before answering. "It's my will to survive… and if I panic, I'm dead. I had that drilled into me time and time again." He thought back to his routine beatings by Miki, her verbal reprimands being more like warnings and hints to survive longer, even with their insults.

_Don't put your faith in just one technique! What happens then when I counter it and grind you into the ground?_

_Only try to attack me when it's going to be worthwhile for you, dumbass!_

_Block punches but dodge kicks! Seriously, are you _that _stupid?_

Stop trying to overpower me! What good is all the strength and speed in the whole Universe if you can't use it correctly?

Eventually, the sequence became weaker and weaker, to the point where Simon could hit his 'teacher' as hard as she hit back… and although Miki still had defeated him more than he had bested her, his lessons were solidly drilled into him. The only thing she truly had over him was experience and the ability to control energy. Everything else, even reaction time, he had eventually surpassed her at.

"Know your limits at the very least," Ryu said as he walked away, leaving Simon alone.

* * *

"Perfect... or close enough," Brian said as he looked at the electric gun he had generated in his hand. "One more day and Blade and I will be back to full strength…"

Bulleta smirked as she looked at the younger gunman. "That so?" A diamond sidearm appeared in her hand. "Wanna try the dueling thing again then?"

Brian smiled as they both walked up to the rooftops, each loading their weapons. At the top, they looked at each other and were ready.

"Twenty paces," Brian said as they stood back to back.

Five…

Ten…

Fifteen…

_Let's see how _she _likes the seven-chamber gun…_ Brian thought.

Sixteen…

_He won't guess what'll happen next…_ Bulleta thought.

Seventeen…

_She'll try something new… but what?_

Eighteen…

Shoot as fast as you want, Brian… 

Nineteen…

THAT'S IT! 

Twenty!

Brian and Bulleta turned, each firing seven shots from their respective weapons at the same time, but Brian dove to the side immediately afterwards as a diamond gun-turret materialized behind him and fired, barely missing him. Brian then reformed his Lightning Magnum into that of a tazer that he fired, the electric prong piercing Bulleta's arm and sending a serious jolt into her, and when Bulleta recollected her thoughts, she found Brian pointing his pistol straight at her head.

"I believe _I_ won that, you little cheat…" he said before walking away.

"I never said you didn't," she muttered before cracking her neck. Oh well… the injury didn't hurt too bad… and besides… she was already thinking about making the trick even better…

* * *

"Wake up, dear," came a voice as Chun Li slowly regained consciousness, finding herself… surprisingly uninhibited by any of the methods of bondage she would've expected Vega to use… in fact, the Spaniard hadn't even laid a finger on her after knocking her out, considering her clothes were unruffled and everything seemed in place.

Looking up she could see the cocky bastard grinning as he walked up to something she really wasn't surprised to see… a rebuilt Psycho Drive.

"As you probably know what this is," Vega said as Chun Li rose to her feet, "I'll skip the formalities of explaining its function and purpose."

"And you want me to power it, like Bison tried to get Ryu…" Chun Li said, smiling internally as Vega looked at her seriously…

… for a moment before bursting out in laughter. "_You?_ There are more things in Heaven and Earth than _you_, detective, and most of them are stronger as well."

"Then…" Chun Li started to saw as Vega turned back to her, and she suddenly was silent as she felt one of those invisible claws stray across her neck.

"At the moment, you are not a threat to me or the Psycho Drive. Provided you stay that way… you won't have to go the way that Gouki did…"

"You killed _him_?" Chun Li said in shock, revolted in the way Vega seemed unfazed by the subject matter.

"A lacerated heart is something few recover from," Vega answered as he to the Psycho Drive and put his hand on it. "The Illuminati can keep an eye on that 'Alex' all they want. I honestly don't care whatever world-shaking plans they have."

"Then why enter that tournament?" Chun Li asked, wondering why Vega was so unrestrained in telling her all this.

"What better test than to pit my superior force to those that go bump in the night?" Vega mused. "The fact that another type of power has made itself known in this makes the situation quite delicate, I must admit… but essentially I'll come out on top no matter what happens."

"You sure of that?" Chun Li asked. Vega turned to answer, instead, being surprised at Chun Li's boldness to charge at him with a kick.

Not like it mattered, however. Vega caught for foot out of midair and hung her upside down, looking down at the woman. Chun Li kicked at his wrist with her other leg, so Vega just dropped her on the ground beforehand.

"_Yes…_" he said before knocking her unconscious again.

* * *

Gurn sat at a table quietly, a number of demons walking around the room, a few even passing the time by playing a few games of dice.

Things were bad… mainly considering the Clerics were the biggest threat to the demonic takeover and with Simon and company back on Earth, things didn't look good.

So Gurn did the only thing he could… watch them play dice. The rules seemed simplistic… three black dice and three white, where the accumulated values of one would cancel out the values for the other… a game of positives and negatives, you might say, where the absolute value of whatever you rolled would make it so a negative fifteen would be greater than a positive fourteen.

When one of the demons looked at him, they grinned. "What, you not a gambling man?"

Gurn was about to say 'no'… but the situation was pretty dire as it was. How worse could it get? "What would I play for?" Gurn asked, hoping Lady Luck would be on his side.

One of the lead demons threw the dice in Gurn's face. "The only thing that really is of value to us… your soul!"

"Fine… and if I win then you all have to kill yourselves."

The demons burst out laughing. "One soul for all of that? Why don't we just kill you right now instead?"

Well… no backing out now… Simon and Lernan and the rest had their duty… he had this… "Because then you wouldn't get my soul… which you said was the only thing of value. Now you could probably kill me and then wipe out the whole temple of Clerics, each one of them probably in a similar predicament. But think about it… at the moment not one of them is giving you trouble. We can't communicate in any way. We are essentially benign. _Now…_ if you were to do something stupid like give orders to kill us all… there's going to be some struggling and a few of your guys are going to die, at least one."

"What's your point?"

Gurn picked up the dice and clenched his fist around them. "I'm responsible for every single person here. If you want… I'll put the souls of the entire organization up for grabs. In exchange, if I win, you and all your die."

"Still not good enough…"

Gurn looked at the dice… twelve six-sided dice… he had to raise the odds of his victory even higher… it would be the only way they would play…

"Here's something then," Gurn said as he handed the dice back, "I have to get four times the amount you roll or more."

"Make it six."

"Five." Gurn said again, "Five with a redo, anything above, and I win."

Exchanging glances with his compatriot, the demon nodded. "Fine. Now swear in blood."

Gurn looked down at the dice. "You first. I'm not the disrespectful demon, am I?"

The leader thought for a moment before gashing open both his and Gurn's palms, their blood soaking the dice.

"Fine then… _you_ roll first…"

Gurn took the dice in his hand and gave them a roll… here's hoping…

* * *

Gallon remembered once how Miki had said 'There is no set of tracks you can't cover with a big pile of dead bodies'… and the werewolf was beginning to appreciate the concept.

Having Donovan along for the ride didn't hurt that bad, either.

Bounding over a rooftop and preparing to enter through a rooftop, Donovan reached for the door, only to stop when it opened from the inside, revealing a man that neither of them had expected to see.

"You're Flare's father…" Donovan said as he and Talbain remembered the man from ten years ago. "You're quite the sight for sore eyes…"

"Glad to be of service," the False-Vampire said as he turned around, "I'd say why I'm here, but saying what the future is usually ends up altering it…" he said before running off, Donovan and Gallon in pursuit.

* * *

Gurn looked at the dice and readied for this throw. This was his contribution to the current conflict… handling this demon occupation on his own so nobody else had to worry…

Clutching the six dice in his hands, Gurn gave them a throw…

Three, Six, and Two for white…

… and Five, Five, and Two for black…

… that ended up with a value of negative one… an absolute value of just one…

The demons all laughed as their leader grinned sadistically. "Well… that's that, then. You lo-"

"Roll the dice," Gurn shot back.

"What?"

"You heard me… _roll the dice!_"

* * *

_Okay… if what the logbook said was correct…_ Blaze thought as they neared a door, _When I open the door… de Lepe will be wide open and-_

Gallon and Donovan were awestruck as a giant spike impaled Blaze before what seemed to be a giant behemoth smashed into both of them.

Donovan and Talbain both rent through the flesh of the creature before realizing exactly _what_ they had been attacking…

Tentacles… rather big and long tentacles. Donovan quickly conjured up his entirety of elemental spirits: fire, electricity, ice, acid, and wind and blasted them away as quickly as possible as Gallon conjured up a powerful stream of fire and blasted away the attacks.

"You both live up to your reputation…" mused the elderly Makai noble Persimmon de Lepe. He then looked down at the mortally wounded Blaze. "As for you…" he said before kicking him in the head and knocking him into the wall.

"How…" Blaze said as blood flowed out of him.

De Lepe shrugged as he walked back, a horde of demons stepping up from behind him. "If we were able to find a way to negate the Gift of Chaos, how hard would stopping a few Necromantic rituals?"

Gallon and Donovan exchanged glances. This would be tricky, and they steeled themselves for battle as the horde charged… only to fall down dead.

… Less than fifty miles away, an infinitely lucky Cleric looked down at his late adversary's roll, not at all surprised he ended up getting a net amount of _zero_.

Suddenly realizing he was the only demon left on Alcemia alive, de Lepe suddenly felt a twinge of nervousness as the strongest Dhampir and Werewolf in history attacked.

* * *

As Miki stared up at the sky from the park bench, one could practically hear the gears turning in her head as the strategist thought hard.

The good news was that Brian and Blade were almost back up to full strength… bad news was even after handling those college idiots, it seemed they had to deal with that Vega bastard next… well, not _them_, but Simon did.

Screw it, beating him around like a rag doll the day before the fight wouldn't do any good. There was only so much even she could do for preparation. "But he'll be fine," Miki said as she sat up.

"Owikamki!"

Miki turned to see Cammy looking at her. "Yes?"

"You are really sure you know that your friend can handle Vega, aren't you? I mean, I'd be panicking right now if I were you…"

Miki stood up and shrugged. "Who says I'm not? I just can't do anything about that now. The here and now is what we both need to focus on… well, tomorrow's match." She cracked her neck and started walking away before Cammy called out to her again.

"Owikamki… I'd prefer… if we would just settle that with you and me… not get the others on our team involved…"

Miki smiled and paused for a moment. "Sounds peachy."

* * *

Anya smiled as she looked down at the papers in front of her, determining which referees would be present for the fateful final matches for the singles matches… she smiled as she circled Lillith's name in particular.

True, Jedah had confessed that Lillith now carried a power reminiscent of the Reincarnator's, but he knew that Jedah would prefer exacting his revenge in private… and considering what Jedah was enabling her to do, Anya couldn't just say no to it.

As for Kaga and his true identity… Anya was beginning to wonder how dumb the others were.

* * *

Midnight.

Simon, Anita, Lillith, and the rest had all arrived as a friendly face looked down from the rooftops, her emerald green eyes staring at Lillith with a cautious look.

Morrigan knew something was going to happen… she just couldn't put her finger on it. She saw them talk a bit…

… and then vanish.

_What?_ She thought as she flew down and looked around. _Makes no sense…_

But the succubus's focus changed as she heard screaming and scuffling from not too far away.

"You can't do this! I'm a High Noble of Makai!"

"Uh huh… except both of us never swore fealty to you… and our association with Morrigan is left at a professional level."

_Oh… those two finally came back…_ Morrigan thought as saw Donovan and Talbain carrying a kicking and screaming de Lepe. "And what's caused this?"

Donovan just looked at her and answered plainly. "An attempted takeover of Alcemia… fortunately foiled thanks to us and… a little luck."

_Little?_ Gallon thought before adding to the statement. "Anya had decided to try to divert Miki and company away, or at least distract them… and de Lepe decide to volunteer for it in addition to trying to dig up whatever information he could…"

"Lies! All lies!" Persimmon answered back. "Lady Aensland why would-"

Even Donovan and Gallon were awestruck as Morrigan callously decapitated the demon before walking away with clenched fists.

"I don't care if they were, Persimmon," Morrigan answered as she walked away, "You caught me in a bad mood and that was justification enough. Secondly, although I might not care much for a planet I spent less than twelve hours on, its inhabitants certainly deserve a certain level of respect…"

The words she spoke even shocked Morrigan herself. A few years ago, she would never have done such a thing… specifically because it would require a certain level of… accepting responsibilities.

Oh, what the hell… She was Makai's rightful ruler. It was about time she started acting like it…

… at least for a bit.

A/N: Whew! That took a long time to grunt out… but it's for Halloween… so I guess nice timing. Anyways, next chapter, the Quarter-finals start and Vega shows his full power to Simon… and the only thing that might save the half-Syken is the Central Incenderary.


	18. Central Incendiary

A/N: Well… it's been a while since updating… but you know, some reviews would speed up the process. And you all know I don't own this… except for my OCs.

When Anita regained consciousness, she found herself lying on a sandy hill, the other competitors already on their feet for the most part. Dusting herself off, Anita looked around to see Kaga standing there, calmly talking with Simon.

"Rest assured, this changes nothing," Kaga stated.

"What the hell are you talking about? This is more or less abduction! And who knows what the hell you or Anya will do next!" Simon snapped, causing Anita, Hsien-Ko, and Lilith to shake their heads in realization that the half-Syken would probably be watching his back from now on.

"This is nothing…" Kaga answered. "This is simply a precaution considering all of you have rather… destructive capabilities."

"That's an understatement," Vega muttered before walking away.

"And we'll be returned upon…" Demitri left the statement open, waiting for Kaga's answer.

"Oh, that'll be after the final match. And your housing should be popping up," Kaga said as he checked his watch, "Right about… now." Sure enough, a series of modest-sized shacks appeared around them, and Kaga smiled. "The quarter final round will begin at exactly noon. Until then, you are perfectly entitled to make up for any lost sleep."

Kaga bowed almost patronizingly, and then vanished. Ryu and Ken exchanged a quick glance before heading in to rest, Demitri and Vega going the same later.

Simon, however, was looking around the landscape and immediately inquired as to what where they were.

"Majigen," Lilith, Anita, and Hsien-Ko answered in perfect unison. Anita, upon seeing Simon still didn't understand, elaborated. "The alternate plane that Jedah created a while ago."

"Oh. Well, then it's pretty obvious who Jedah is siding with this time," Simon concluded. "Screw it… I could use another six hours of sleep."

"Six?" Anita asked, "Oh… warming-up for Vega. Might want to go for only five then."

* * *

"That sounds plausible…" Anya mused as she sat in the Maximoff family's study, a wine glass filled to the brim with blood, opposite of Morrigan who was taking on a more serious form than usual. "So you're saying I was able to make a deal with the other Makai Nobles whereby Persimmon de Lepe would organize an invasion of the planet while the other Nobles would defeat Owikamki and the ill-named Team Guns & Roses. That would certainly quash any concepts of Alcemian superiority once and for all, and also unify Makai under the Nobles that did so, who in turn would cede control to _me_ in exchange for carving up Alcemia for their own goals, correct?" 

"Not to mention the defeat of Simon Tyer, who you've already tried to kill _once_," Morrigan added. "Honestly, I don't care much for any of this whatsoever."

"Yet you have no proof to this," Anya countered. "And if I wanted Simon dead so badly, why has he had a decent amount of luck in his rounds?"

"Barely beating Gouki and only by a technicality that would've gone unnoticed really isn't winning. Besides, Simon was more or less a bloody pulp by the end of that fight… and he's fighting Vega next."

"The Spaniard? I will admit he's dangerous-"

"He killed two of the most infamous and powerful fighters from the World Warrior circuits. That amounts to more than just 'dangerous'."

Anya swirled the blood in her glass twice before looking down at it. She drank it all in a single gulp and then smashed it down in front of Morrigan. "This is all wonderful speculation, but as I've said before, you have no proof. You _killed_ de Lepe. That could be viewed as rather incriminating. And you aren't an omnipotent succubus that knows no peer."

"You speak of Jedah. But you're assuming I'm alone in all of this."

"Forgive me. My memory… fails me sometimes. Likewise, I had in fact forgotten that this is _my_ tournament. The judges and referees are at _my_ mercy at all times. Now if you I hear that you try to act out against this tournament or start spouting conspiracy theories any more… I'm rather afraid I wouldn't know what would happen to you." She snapped her fingers, and Morrigan turned to see a yellow-skinned man she expected was a vampire arriving.

"Arc, Morrigan Aensland was just leaving. Please escort her off the premises, please."

_Arc, eh? Name sounds familiar…_ Morrigan thought as she stood up and walked away, stopping near Arc and eyeing him. "You've got a big… sword…"

"He's a new one… caught him snooping around a few days ago. That's all," Anya spat. "Now leave."

"If you insist…" Morrigan said in a resigned tone.

* * *

"I thought he said he'd be back before his next match," a guard said to another as Chun Li slowly roused herself from her Vega-induced slumber. She found herself in the chamber of the Psycho Drive… Vega obviously would've wanted to gloat before victory.

Truth be told, however, Vega was missing, and Chun Li sprang to her feet with renewed strength as the two men saw the detective standing.

"Holy shit! Boss isn't arou-"

Vega at his current strength was something Chun Li doubted she could handle. Two idiots that had underestimated the length of time a concussion would effect her, that was something different.

With two quick, bone-crushing kicks, Chun Li sent them flying into steel doors, the resulting indentations big enough that Chun Li could read "Fruit of the Loom" on one bastard's waist area. As she moved towards the Psycho Drive to at least damage the stupid thing, she heard an alarm go off… her gaze shooting to where one of the flunkies was slumping down, an alarm button pressed.

Chun Li then turned to the Psycho Drive itself, seeing the floor beneath it suddenly open up as it dropped down what seemed to be _miles_… as a particular female voice said over the speakers, "Intruder Alert in the Psycho Drive Chamber. For security measures, self-destruct sequence has been initiated. Five minutes till self-destruct."

There were some times in her job that Chun Li _really _wished she would just sit down and train those kids.

* * *

Cammy knew that technically the match she was going into was a _team_ fight. If she wanted to, the others could easily stand by her and she'd outnumber Owikamki twelve to one.

_But what would be the point in that?_ The Delta Red agent thought. She wanted to face Miki in a one-on-one fight, do it for the others on the team so that they would be well-rested for the semi-final match… if she took Miki down.

It certainly wasn't impossible… she might have skipped over the third World Warrior tournament, but it was by choice, not because she lacked the strength. There was no shame in taking a tournament off here or there, especially when a number of new faces sprang up to meet the challenge. But Vega… Vega was definitely something else now.

_But there's nothing I can do except have some faith in the people that'll fight him…_ Cammy thought as she stood up and began walking towards the arena. It was time to get this out of the way.

* * *

"We could easily do this together," Blade said, an eagerness to fight again thinly disguised in the tone of her voice. "I mean… it's been a while since-"

"You can wait," Miki said. "We're getting down to the wire here. There's going to be a lot of people watching… including our next couple of opponents. _My_ fighting style is constantly changing and adapting."

"But we're stronger than you," Brian added as the three sat on a park bench, the Darkinarki once again wearing her 'Sacred Assassin' outfit. "We could finish-"

"Stronger than me," Miki cut in. "But there's bound to be somebody that can _see_ your attacks coming, and think up how to beat them. Every half-rate idiot demon, plus the Makai High Nobles know about the Broken Mirror… they're working on getting around it, doing _better_ than it. This is a fight I can win alone and _need_ to win alone. Now, if you'd excuse me…" she stood up and did a quick stretch, "I've got one more fight to win for us. After that, we do it as a team. Because I can't do everything on my own, believe me."

"You'd like us to think that, right?" Brian asked. "Oh well… might as well try to go fisticuffs with Bulleta or something…"

"Think I'll go with you. Like to see what kind of progress she's made," Blade said as she walked away with the gunner. Miki watched them for a moment before calling out of them. "Oh?" Blade asked as she turned around…

… Only to quickly ready her rapiers and block a series of thirty-seven slashes and punches by Miki, who immediately noticed Brian pulling back for a punch. She ducked, spinning out of the way of Thinwhistle's retaliatory stab, and then sprang back.

"Perfect form, or close enough," Miki commended as she walked away. "I'll start running you through the ropes after I win this."

"'The ropes?'" Blade and Brian said in perfect unison, but for different reasons. Blade was saying it because by the time she had joined up, Brian and Simon had both finally improved enough for Miki to end the ruthless training program. Brian was saying it out of horror…

Five half-hour sparring matches a day… after waking up, before lunch, _immediately_ after lunch, then before and after dinner as well… Miki didn't pull any punches during those, far from it. She actually went out of her way with lethal attacks to force Simon and Brian to get better…

And just because you were stronger and faster than your trainer didn't meant that 'running the ropes' lost its meaning. In fact, it would probably be taking on a whole new meaning this time around.

* * *

_Another sparse audience. Then again… it _IS _only eight in the morning…_ Miki thought as she entered the sandy arena, giving a quick nod to the referee. Cammy was already there, in a green outfit with, for some reason, green splotches of paint on her legs. _I've seen weirder…_ Without any further ado, she generated her gauntlets and grieves for some extra blunt damage. She really wasn't in this to kill anybody, after all.

Cammy was already warming up, gearing up for her toughest fight in her life, and was expecting Miki to be doing the same. Sure enough, Owikamki was.

"Ready?" Cammy asked as she dropped into a fighting stance.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Miki answered in return as the two charged. Cammy immediately took a swing at Miki's face, but the redhead bent out of the way. Moving back, Miki moved to nail her with an uppercut, but suddenly Cammy shot into the air, beating Miki to the punch, well… _kick_.

Rebounding off Miki and landing a few yards away, Cammy grinned. "The Cannon Spike," she said. "I figured the only way to beat you is to strike fast and then strike again as you're countering the first move."

"Not too shabby," Miki answered. "The same trick won't work twice, however." Miki sprang at the blonde, bending out of the way of a spinning and kicking Cammy that had aimed at her ankles, but she immediately sprang to the side to avoid another of Cammy's Cannon Spikes. Grabbing Cammy's arm, Miki then threw her away like a rag doll into the sand.

Springing back, Cammy didn't let this go unchallenged. Instead, she gradually approached Miki, noticing that her opponent was being considerably more cautious than in her previous matches. Cammy really didn't understand, but she guessed maybe she really didn't even need to, and then took to the offense again.

Flying through the air like a cannonball, Cammy immediately uncurled as soon as Miki side-stepped and stuck her arm out to get the girl, and then spun on the appendage like a gymnast, swinging a foot out before Miki's other fist pounded her in the cheek. The attack was returned in full, however, because Cammy's foot ended up planted in Miki's face as well.

The stalemate was held for only a second, however, because Cammy rebounded off and landed on her feet, smiling at the bruise she had inflicted despite the fact she ended up with one too.

"Your fighting style… your trying to think on your feet more than usual. You're rather sluggish this time…" Cammy observed as she and Miki circled each other.

"Trying to get a feel as to how you fight," Miki answered. The two then went at each other again, Cammy again redirecting a punch so it purposely missed Owikamki's face and instead plowed its way into her left clavicle. Miki spun with the blow to soften it, and also to backhand Cammy. Yet Cammy blocked that quickly, shooting up from another Cannon Spike. She had expected Miki to block it and then counter.

She didn't.

"You lose!" Miki shouted as she rebounded back, her hands glowing black as she punched up at the general direction Cammy was. _Thank you Flare for teaching me this…_ "Phoenix Pile Driver!" The glow left her hands, instead taking flight as a beam that shot above Cammy, taking the form of a black bird before slamming her into the ground. The blonde haired girl sprawled out on the ground, too dizzy to get up as the referee began the count.

"One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven! Eight! Nine! Ten!"

The referee quickly called the match for Miki, who walked up and helped her opponent up. "You okay?" she asked.

Cammy, with her pride the only thing really hurt, got back up to her feet after a moment. "Fine," she answered.

"Nice to know… and I think they'll be broadcasting Simon's fight with Vega in a bit. Watch it… have some hope in him."

"Do you?"

"Of course, dimwit!" Miki was tempted to whack Cammy in the head for that, but refrained. _We'll… only two more matches!_

* * *

Staring at a craggy rock cropping a few hundred yards away, Simon weighed the effects of wind resistance, rock strength, and the adjustments he'd need for the attack. After finally making up his mind, he pulled back for it, curling up his right hand but letting his middle and index fingers be straight. "Punk…" Burgundy-hued flames slowly slithered down his wrist to form a small orb at the very tip of his fingers. "Purple…" Simon prepared for the throw, arcing his body forward, "Crimson."

The sphere went flying, suddenly splitting up into countless crescent-shaped pieces that flew in perfect unity, cutting up the rock to reduce it to nothing.

Nice to know he still had it.

"You think your little cutters will save you?" Vega asked as he walked up to Simon. "Seriously, do you?"

Simon turned to the older man and nodded. "Why not?"

Suddenly Kaga appeared between them and smiled. "Ah, good… you're both awake. If that's the case…" Kaga snapped his fingers, immediately generating a massive arena around them. "Now, if only our referee would arrive…"

"I'm here," Lilith yawned as she staggered in, Anita and Hsien-Ko accompanying her.

"Good… now inform them of the new rules."

"Oh, yeah…" Lilith said as she tried to do a few stretches. "More or less, this is the same. Except now there are no ring-outs and no count-outs. If you say you give up, then the fight's over and if someone is knocked unconscious, then they lose. Understand?"

Simon nodded as Kaga walked away from them, leaving to two staring at each other. "Ready?"

"I will break you," Vega answered as he slipped his mask on.

"FIGHT!" Lilith shouted as the two charged at each other, Simon pulling back for a punch…

Only for Vega to teleport behind Simon and impale him with his Psycho-Powered claws. Simon coughed up almost a pint of blood as he kicked Vega away, the Spaniard seeming not amused.

"Missed your heart by less than a millimeter," Vega said. "I won't make that mistake again."

"I'm willing to risk it," Simon grunted. He shot himself at Vega, immediately side-stepping when Vega tried to slash at him with those invisible claws. Vega gave him no rest, again teleporting behind him and pulling back for a decapitating strike. "East Wind!" A sudden gust of wind shoved Simon out of the way, and he kicked out at Vega's face.

Yet the Spaniard vanished again, only to appear above Simon and impale his leg. Simon screamed in agony as Vega sadistically contorted the claws, slowly inching higher and higher on the leg before hie slammed Simon onto his knees on the ground and arranged his other claw so each blade of it was arranged around his head.

"You've bowed down, now yield and your death will be painless. Otherwise…" Vega let his claw still stuck in Simon's leg carve up another bit. He then turned to Lilith, who was watching in complete horror. "Have I done anything wrong?"

"Morally, yes," Anita orated.

"But nothing against the rules," Vega answered as he turned back to Simon. "Well? _WELL?_" Yet Simon said nothing, and then Vega pulled his claw away from Simon's head, resulting in five bloody lacerations before he kicked Simon away. Yet when Simon crawled away and got back to his feet, he showed no signs of giving up. "What?"

"If I panic," Simon slowly said as his legs wobbled, "I'm dead. I gotta stay calm to beat you."

Vega looked at Simon with disdain before suddenly shooting at him, spinning and with his claws pointing out. Suddenly dark-blue Psycho Power energy erupted from him. "PSYCHO BARCELONA ATTACK!"

Simon looked in utter horror, but jumped backwards and rebounded off a wall, hands glowing red as he thrusted them out. "PUNK RUBY OSCILLATOR!"

For one brief moment, Chaos Power and Psycho Power stood against each other, the ferocity of one only matching that of the other.

But then Simon went flying, Vega again stabbing into his chest three times before walking away. He approached Lilith, removed his mask, and then casually licked the blood off his claws. "He's dead… call the match."

Lilith returned his gaze and shook her head. "Then why is he on his feet?"

Vega turned around and dropped his jaw in utter horror at the blood streaming down Simon's body and the fact that _somehow…_ he had missed _every single vital organ!_

"If I panic… I'm dead," Simon repeated as he raised up his hand. "That won't happen! Center Wind!"

Anita felt the attack being gathered from beforehand, and immediately raised up her hands and crouched down as suddenly a gigantic white tornado enveloped Vega.

"PUNK PINK METEOR!" Then there were twelve burgundy flickers in the sky, which grew larger and larger until they shot down at the tornado, twelve gigantic meteors as big as a house. They were drawn, attracted to the cyclone, and they pounded into it, one after the other, until the wind died down, and Simon, Lilith, Anita, and Lei-Lei could see twelve gigantic chunks of rock, stacked on top of each other one after another, Vega's body sprawled out at the bottom. Panting, Simon still smiled weakly. "Take that."

And then a hairline crack appeared in the bottom meteor, then in the next, and then the next… and they all fell to pieces as Vega stood up, unharmed. "A fine display of dust, if such was your intent."

Simon was awestruck, and couldn't even raise a hand to defend himself when Vega stabbed into his side, obviously going out of his way to inflict as much damage as possible now, forgetting about the quick and effortless victory.

"You're weak… you're pathetic," Vega spat as he then began kicking Simon on the ground before throwing him away and holding him up in the air with nothing more than telekinetic Psycho Power. "And you're going to die now."

* * *

Those that were viewing the match from Earth were shaken by the fight, Cammy looking away at the certainty that Vega would again win. What conceivable way could a crippled and bloody kid only eighteen years old win against him?

The answer would knock her socks off.

* * *

As Vega gathered up energy for the killing blow, he didn't except Simon to clench his teeth and fists in one final exertion as wind again began to kick up.

"Oh… and what's this?" Vega patronized as he again noticed a tornado again forming around them. "Didn't you already try this before?"

"Not what I'm about to do," Simon answered, gathering up every conceivable ounce of strength he had… small flames bursting to life around them.

Anita, realizing what was about to happen, grabbed Lilith and Hsien-Ko and dragged them out of the fighting area, hearing Simon calmly say the words "Central Incendiary."

Vega lunged, and there was a flash of blue from Simon as the fifth part of the Excel Drive came to life. And then a new tornado came into being, one of burning and ultimate destruction.

Vega ignored it all, however, striking out with another Psycho Barcelona Attack, but then he just stopped dead in his tracks, held there by nothing but the wind.

"You can't win," Simon said as he walked up to the immobile Vega, pulled back for a punch, and sent the burning fist clean into Vega's face, shattering the mask, teeth, and bones in one move. The half-Syken, restored to full strength by the flame, then pummeled Vega's body and beat him around like a rag doll, knocking him one direction then suddenly flying behind him and kicking him in another.

_But… no!_ Vega thought as he channeled up the entirety of the Psycho Drive's power. _I possess unlimited power now! This can't happen!_

"PUNK RED VIOLET!" Explosive spheres blew into the Spaniard left and right as he realized the flames of the Central Incendiary were getting _hotter_.

"It's really quite simple," Simon said as he cracked his neck, enjoying watching Vega sweat uncontrollably while he was perfectly fine. "I create a tornado, light it on fire, and then the heat restores the strength I lost. Then I add more wind and fire, making it get hotter and hotter, but still restoring me to full."

"Then…" Vega croaked out, "That means…"

"YOU BET YOUR ASS!" Simon screamed as he pulled back to the maneuver Vega had seen him do before. "Time to die, asshole!" _Time for him to face the destructive force of the Variable Gust Cutter!_ "Punk…"

"You can't do this!'

"Purple…"

"I'll give you anything… anything you want!"

"CRIMSON!"

Vega couldn't even move, his body was so dehydrated… all he could do was suffer a death induced by being cut into millions of little pieces which then burst into flames as well.

The flames subsided, as did the wind, and Simon stood there as the last man standing… not only the winner of the match, but also the killer of an evil man.

Truth be told, he had _no_ idea which one he liked better.

* * *

Cammy couldn't believe it as she saw Simon emerge victorious. Had he really just not only beaten, but _killed_ Vega like that?

Miki's faith certainly was put into the right people.

A/N: Whew! Took me long enough to update again. As I've continually stated, reviews will speed up the process. More importantly, however, the other quarter-finalist matches will be starting, and Ryu will face Demitri's terrifying powers… but with some surprising results.


	19. Rei No Hadou

A/N: Well, it's been awhile since I updated… but only about a month, so no harm no foul.

Simon felt a great weight seemingly fade away as he caught his breath… he had actually killed him! True, he'd taken plenty of lives before, but he was more surprised by how easy it had been in the end the fight when he had set his mind to it…

"A destructive force if ever there was one," Anita said as she came into view, seeming impressed with Simon's victory. Hsien-Ko herself was preoccupied trying to count the numerous pieces of Vega scattered everywhere.

"He just pushed me too far," Simon said as he cracked his neck, "When you corner any animal and you're moving in for the kill, it bites back… I just bite the hardest."

"More like sliced and diced," Lei-Lei corrected.

"Anyways," Lilith said as she let out a sigh and let her clothing revert back from her referee, "You're in the semi-finals now… up against whichever of these two wins…" she gestured to Anita and Hsien-Ko, the latter suddenly bursting out into anxious sweating when she looked at Anita.

"Yeah… about that…" she started to say before Anita cut her off.

"Try your best… if you're better fit to stop Anya and all… you'll win. Plus I can't sense non-magical attacks, mind you. I'll be completely merciless, but rest assured… no matter what, you'll walk away in one piece."

"Thanks… I guess," Hsien-Ko said as the group turned to see Ryu and Ken running in, sweat glistening from their bodies. It was obvious they had been sparring.

"We came running as soon as we saw the first tornado! Is-" Ken then looked over to see Simon there, weary but no sign of injury on him while the bloodied remains of Vega instantly showed what had happened here.

"Fought to win," Simon said as he walked away, a few steps more clumsy than the others, "That just came down to killing him. Now if you excuse me, I'd like to get a few hours of sleep."

"Did it at least come down to either you or him?" Ryu asked. Simon turned and nodded. "Good enough."

"Anyways…" another referee said as he came into view. "Is the next match ready?"

Anita and Lei-Lei exchanged glances. "Sure," Hsien-Ko sighed, throwing up her arms in surrender. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

_We're all in the semi-finals!_ Blade still thought a few hours later as she and Brain sparred with Miki, the eldest of the three fighting on her own and at full ferocity. Obsidian blades lashed out against both Blade and Lernan, the two dodging and blocking as best they could. After all, with three days of rest until the last two matches, things could afford to be hectic and painful…

Exactly the way Miki liked her fights.

Punches and kicks surged at her in every which way, and yet Miki seemed not fazed in the slightest. Two fists shot straight at her face, yet Miki simply ducked and kicked up into them, hearing the sounds of bones crack as Blade and Brian's arms were knocked out of place. Yet Owikamki got her comeuppance, another punch by Brian hitting her knee and knocking her flat on her face.

Without any clue where the next attack would come from, Miki rolled back and punched at Brian. Unfortunately, Blade managed to kick her in the side of the head, sending the Darkinarki staggering to her right. They both attacked again, but Miki retaliated with a spin kick, knocking them both to the ground.

"This is getting good, don't you think?" Miki asked as Brian and Blade got back to their feet. The former seemed a little irritated, remembering the abuse he'd suffered with a year ago, but Blade seemed more overjoyed than ever before.

"Bring it on, battle-junky," Miki taunted with a lop-sided smirk as the two charged again.

* * *

It hadn't even been a whole day yet, and Morrigan still felt different after her little public execution with de Lepe. She valued her independence over _everything_… well, Lilith meant more than even that, but where exactly did that leave Makai? Ruled by separate nobles that were pretty much plotting behind her back, that's what Makai was left with.

To be fair, Morrigan never heard of a succubus having a mid-life crisis… and the stress most likely was the sole cause of this line of thinking. Then again, this was a serious situation… she had more or less been a thrill-seeker until the Pyron incident, and she hadn't really assumed any responsibility, let alone wear the Aensland ring, until Lilith's influence.

The problem was there was no grand trinity of Jedah, Galnan, and Beliel now… no body, mind, and heart of Makai to regulate each other and themselves. True, Jedah had a wonderful way to again and again cheat death, but Galnan was long since dead of old age and Morrigan's adoptive father was impossible to reincarnate _even_ by Kirin, the titular Reincarnator, herself.

She was still worried about Lilith, but Anita, Simon, and Lei-Lei there were to keep things under control, and she was certainly a powerful fighter in her own right. If Jedah went after Lilith, Morrigan knew that the Vampire Savior would have the fight of his life… or lives, maybe.

With Vega dead, there was one less person that could try some stupid bid for power, and they had a general idea of what Anya was planning… but there was two questions that still bothered her…

Why was Demitri alive? Donovan had cleaved him in two, _literally_… and more importantly, why had Demitri been revived _now_? If it were Kaga Familiar who was responsible, the mystery was how was Kaga able to create animals out of literally nothing.

"Baffling, isn't it?"

Morrigan didn't turn to answer, since Owikamki casually sat down beside her. She did notice, however, the number of bruises and scrapes on the Darkinarki's body and spoke on it.

"Sparring finally get the better of you?"

"I've had worse."

"Knowing you, that's an understatement." She then handed Miki a envelope. Two pictures were inside, one of an attractive man Miki recognized as Gregorio Hartland, and the second of a woman with long brown hair in a partially revealing outfit of red leather. "Hartland's team is up next for you, Lernan, and Blade…"

"And the woman?"

"If you've heard about Hartland's reputation, then all I have to say is her name is "Mejina" and she's his assistant. The other female members of the team have chosen not to fight against you, Brian, and Blade for one reason or another… so it'll be two on three."

"How tough are they?"

Morrigan shrugged. "You won't be able to humor somebody into letting you 'Singularity Fist' them, if that's worth anything. Gregorio won't go down easily, he's no Kirin, but he probably has been training specifically to beat you three. And as you're the ultimate proof, strength and speed are not necessary to win fights."

"Certainly. Any other suggestions?" She stood up and looked down at Morrigan.

"Just don't try to burn yourselves out during the next three days. You'll need to be at your best to win."

"Thanks." She started to walk away, and Morrigan watched her before speaking up again.

"Owikamki, if he tries anything… you have my permission, if you even really would need it, to do whatever it takes to kill him."

Miki stood there before turning back to Morrigan, pumping a fist in front of her. "Great! This means I can use _these_," she quickly formed her wrist blades instead of gauntlets, "Without restraint!"

* * *

Anita slid around Hsien-Ko's side as the two engaged in lightning-fast melee battle. Although Anita did have superiority concerning magical strength, most of her offensive abilities required a certain level of focus that the hopping corpse wasn't allotting. Well, that and the fact her precognitive abilities didn't work on non-magical attacks.

Not like she was faring poorly, however. Knowing that the mind, no matter how strong, would fail if the body was weak, Anita had trained her body a great deal over the years, so when Hsien-Ko dropped several gigantic weights on her, Anita was able to hold them up and then throw them off.

But the Light Savior was immediately thrown on the defensive again as Hsien-Ko, a good distance away, let loose a gigantic barrage of objects at her… including statues, bracelets, claws, swords, essentially everything including the kitchen sink.

"No," Anita said as she just raised a hand up, the objects all stopping in midair before the fell to the ground, leaving her view of a shaking Lei-Lei uninhibited. "Nice try though… but I don't get intimidated like that, if at all."

Then Anita was suddenly on her, punching and kicking ruthlessly before one final punch to the jaw sent Lei-Lei spiraling away, sprawling out on the floor.

"Okay?" she asked as Lei-Lei moaned and tried to get to her feet.

"Small parts of me…"

"That I broke or are okay?"

"Both," Lei-Lei joked, getting back on shaky legs. Vision was blurry, she was sweating bullets, and although Anita had seriously had trouble at first, Lei-Lei _knew_ she had made no progress in winning while being beaten up by Anita's pure physical strength.

Slowly, Lei-Lei noticed Anita was doing something with her hands… tracing out very small images in the air that she couldn't really recognize…

"Sanctity Dispersal."

And suddenly Lei-Lei found herself in some bright-yellow world and it was one of _pain_. It reminded her of one of Jedah's techniques… or at least what she had heard about it.

Seven indescribable bursts of pain across her body, and when it was over and she found herself back in the arena, she collapsed.

Everyone watching the battle was utterly silent as they saw Lei-Lei fall, seven small holes in her body at precise locations.

"Ref, call the match," Anita ordered. She turned to him, seeing the idiot was stuttering and looking rather scared. "What the hell are you waiting for?" She barked, fists clenched. "Call the match so I can help her, dammit!"

One look into Anita's eyes caused the man to nod and mutter something along the lines of "Match to Anita," at which point she walked over to Lei-Lei and helped her up.

"You okay?" she asked, to which she heard some unconscious mutterings by Lei-Lei as her sister assumed human for again.

"Well…" Lin-Lin said, her magician's outfit still on, "She looks like she'll be okay, if that's what you're asking…" She helped her sister up, relieved when Ryu and Ken walked up to help take off some of the load.

"Pretty foolish in the end though…" Anita sighed. "She had the best chance to beat me while she was up close…"

After Ryu and Ken dropped Lei-Lei off to the side, the former walked back into the center of the ring.

"Well, if Demitri would get here already, the last round can take place."

The noise after his words died instantly as Ryu felt a dark and imposing figure behind him.

"I'm already here," Demitri drawled. Ryu turned around to face him before walking away a bit, doing a number of stretches as he regulated his breathing. Ryu had worried the training he had done specifically to deal with Gouki had been in vain… but Demitri's vampiric nature might not be _too_ far off the mark of what Ryu had been aiming at. At the very least, he knew that this vampire would not have an easy fight…

Not in the slightest.

* * *

"If everything set with Demitri?" Anya asked as she and Kaga sat face to face in a lounge. In her hand was a glass of O- blood, she was in the mood for something without receptors, and she thought fondly of what would happen in a short while.

"Naturally."

"I must admit, however, this plan of yours is utterly magnificent. So… unlike you."

"Ten years is a long time to work out the details of revenge… I used them well."

"That's putting it mildly." Anya raised her glass and smiled. "To victory."

"To the final part of our plan."

"And especially," Anya downed the blood in one gulp and slammed it onto the ground, "To my dominion over Makai!"

* * *

The fight had started almost instantly… and Demitri wasted no time teleporting in front of Ryu and blasting him away with a Chaos Flare. The Ansatsuken fighter was blown back, but returned the favor with a Hadouken.

"Pointless to the end," Demitri scoffed as he raised up his cape, the attack dispelling on contact.

Ryu landed on his side, but quickly got back up and tightened his red headband… Ken's old headband. _The fight is all…_ Ryu thought to himself as he caught his breath and let all fear and doubt fade away. _The fight is all_, he reiterated in his mind as Demitri just stared at him.

The fight was the only thing to focus on, and focus Ryu did.

Demitri's muscles tensed, he started to move…

"SHINKUU HADOUKEN!"

… And was nearly bowled over by the beam of destruction Ryu sent straight at him. Even Anita, Lin-Lin, and Lilith were awestruck by the sheer power Ryu's attack possessed, although Ken seemed a little disappointed.

"Ryu, you didn't use the one you talked about!" Ken shouted as the smoke settled, Demitri's cape and suit in tatters as the vampire looked utterly horrified by the force Ryu had channeled up.

_The one he _didn't_ talk about using?_ Demitri thought as he regained his composure. He quickly checked his hands… he wasn't injured… but it had been close. Make no mistake, Demitri knew he couldn't underestimate this man… the look in Ryu's eyes plainly said, "That's the only pulled punch you're getting this entire fight."

Ryu charged, counting the paces away from Demitri before spinning backwards while maintaining perfect aerodynamics, his foot slamming into Demitri's arms. The impact was thundering, Demitri held his ground and struck back with a swift punch. Ryu's momentum, however, was gone and he dropped down and then ducked under Demitri's attack before countering with a Shoryuken.

Yet Demitri's suspicions and plan were proven right, as he dashed back in time to dodge Ryu's technique before slamming back into him with a Demon Cradle. Ryu went flying away, but spun in midair and shot off another Hadouken to give him cover while landing.

He charged again, springing to the side as Demitri kicked at him before punching him squarely in the face. Demitri stumbled back three steps, but immediately looked back up at Ryu with glowing red eyes.

"You're nothing," Demitri sneered as he raised a hand, a burning Chaos Flare in the shape of a face firing out straight at Ryu. He threw up his defenses, but suddenly a laser shot out through it and pierced Ryu's shoulder. The Japanese man yelped in pain from Demitri's trick, not knowing the origin of the power came from a certain enemy he had sucked the blood out of a few days ago.

Seeing Ryu's position compromised, Demitri shot forward, true vampire form taking precedence as Ryu pulled back for another Hadouken, waiting until the right moment. As soon as he could feel Demitri's breath, he attacked.

"REI GOU HADOU!"

The blast nailed Demitri head on, and he screamed in agony as he was blown away like a life caught in a hurricane, hitting the ground with smoldering force.

Ken whistled at Ryu's act and chuckled quietly. "He finally used it…"

"What's 'it'?" Lilith asked. Ken started to answer, but Anita stopped him.

"It's pure brilliance," Anita answered, having known about the attack a full five seconds before it had been even used. Of course, she had _no_ idea it would do that kind of damage to Demitri at all… "The technique is partly designed off the Shun Goku Satsu… but instead of a grab, it revolves around a Hadouken."

Ken looked at her and then nodded as Demitri tried to get off the ground. "Yeah… Ryu made it to do damage relating to the number of people that the target killed… but I didn't think it would have this kind of effectiveness… even against Gouki."

"Vampires live much longer than a human does," Anita pointed out. "Demitri didn't waste time sparing people that fought him in battle."

"Wow…" Lilith remarked as Demitri screamed in frustration as he got back to his feet. "He really seems enraged about this."

"Who wouldn't?" Lin-Lin pointed out.

Demitri got back up to his feet and roared in anger. "You little bastard… I won't rest until I drain every ounce of blood from your body!"

Ryu furrowed his brow and charged. That wasn't going to happen.

He punched straight at Demitri, but the vampire caught the blow, grinning sadistically in his true form before punching Ryu in the gut. "I've defeated entities beyond which you humans couldn't even perceive! You're nothing!" He tightened his grip, Ryu wincing in pain as Demitri moved in to sink his teeth on the fighter's neck.

Ryu valiantly tried the only thing he could think of…

He shoved his free hand right in Demitri's mouth and momentarily thanked the fact Dan's techniques were _that_ easy to copy.

"Gadouken!"

Now, the Gadouken was not exactly famous for its power, but all Ryu needed was a distraction to escape Demitri's grip, and that opportunity was what he got. Demitri recoiled a few steps, scratching Ryu's wrist with a fang as Ryu immediately pulled back for the finishing blow.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion, and Demitri's eyes went wide. He was a wreck already, and he couldn't escape…

And then he heard a sadistic voice echo in his mind.

_What made you think I didn't bring you back… mate?_

The last word stuck in Demitri's mind as he saw his final destiny shooting at him. He was dead. There was nothing he could do.

He was dead… he had been a puppet.

And then the attack atomized him.

* * *

"And victory for us is assured," Anya said triumphantly.

* * *

Everyone was speechless at Ryu's rather anticlimactic victory… and the fact there was not a single trace of Demitri left.

"Ref… call the match already," Anita said as she walked away. The man gulped and immediately declared a shocked Ryu the winner. He walked away, confused as Ken put a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked. Ryu looked at him and suddenly regained his focus.

"Yeah… just wasn't expecting that to happen."

"Well…" Ken said as he smiled and walked away with Ryu, "You won't be anywhere near that lucky in our fight. But come on, you've got three days to prep for the finals, so just take it easy."

Ryu nodded. "Yeah… I could use a few days break."

* * *

"Can't believe I lost like that…" Lei-Lei said as she sat next to her sister in their bed. "Then again… I'm the only one that lost their match but _survived…_ so maybe that's pretty lucky, right?"

"We did fine…" Lin-Lin consoled. "I mean, we need to keep an eye out for Jedah, right? And we got three more days of rest until the final rounds too!"

"You think he'd show his face?"

"Eventually, yeah. Until then, we'll just keep our strength up and everything."

A knock at their door caused the sisters to sit up and wonder who it would be at this hour.

"Who is it?"

"Me," came Simon's voice. Lin-Lin opened it to see the half-Syken wearing casual clothes and seemed fully refreshed after his victory over Vega.

"What about?"

Simon sighed as he shook his head before starting to say something.

"Come on, spit it out," Lei-Lei commanded.

"Anita," Simon eventually stated. "Is-"

"You'll have a better chance at beating her than we did, that's all we can say," Lin-Lin concluded. "Now if you want to spar or anything, that's perfectly fine. Clear?"

Simon suddenly looked at the two and immediately spoke his mind. "Owikamki? How are you in two bodies?"

Silence pervaded the hut before the two girls burst in laughter.

"We're not going to be _that_ sadistic," Lin-Lin said, "But we'll do what we can."

* * *

Gregorio Hartland, the magnificent noble of Makai smiled as he stood in the center of the arena for the final rounds of the team battles. He recalled hearing about Miki Owikamki ten years when she was just a child… amazing how that idiot Ed had been killed by her so easily.

But Makai was different now, and the Alcemian legend would die here or suffer a worse fate.

"Make no mistake, Miki Owikamki…" Gregorio said to nobody in particular, "Your luck will run dry in just a few days… I'll make sure of that. Make no mistake… I won't lay a finger on you. Sometimes I like to watch."

He chuckled briefly before walking away and taking out a phone.

"Mejina? You have three days… be sure to practice as much as possible. I want Miki Owikamki completely broken by the time you're done with her. Clear?"

"Crystal clear," a female voice responded.

* * *

"Only two things left to do then," Anya said as she finally stood up and smiled, fangs bared as she looked at Kaga. "You think you can wait a few more days?"

"Certainly," Kaga answered. "I've waited ten years, a little longer won't matter."

"Bravo. You certainly have matured a lot." Anya raised her glass to the sky, her eyes flashing darkly. "A toast to maturity and patience then… because those who plot are those that win."

A/N: In four days, the true battles will begin. Simon Tyer will finally meet his match as Team Guns n' Roses will be brutalized in combat… and the only consolation prize will be discovering just who is Kaga Familiar?


	20. Who is Kaga Familiar?

luA/N: Alright… getting near the end of this! Of course, since I haven't been getting many REVIEWS, updates for this will stay few and far between. Anyways… let's get this one over with.

Flare's dagger flashed through the night sky as he continued his relentless assault on Miki. The Darkinarki blocked with her obsidian blades, fighting back completely ruthlessly. She sent a full-speed chop at her boyfriend's head, the pseudo-Vampire ducking in the nick of time before kicking Miki in the gut.

A single impact, Miki thought as she slid back a step. Her fight tomorrow, late at night, would be against a Makai Noble… and she had no idea how tough that fight would be. She needed to be at her very best, which meant _not_ having the perfect sparring match.

_No…_ Miki thought as she grabbed Flare's leg in just a fraction of a second and used the momentum of his own kick as an opportunity. _I want to slip up… anybody can climb a mountain, it takes somebody at their top of their game to fall and still get back up…_

And get back she did. Miki spun, sending Flare flying into the air before jumping above him and pounding her fists into Flare. The ruler of the city that shared his name felt his body become totally hammered, but he slammed his hands into the side of Miki's head. As if literally expecting Flare to try that, Miki raised her arms and kicked him in the gut, sending Flare plummeting to the ground. The sheer force of the hit hurt like few other things Flare had ever experienced, and the red and black blur coming down at him did not bode well.

Miki's fist hit less than a six inches next to Flare's head, leaving a sizable crater next to her opponent. He stared up at her, those inverted eyes those of a professional if ever there was one looking down at him before the mouth below them smiled.

"Good enough?"

"You beat me left and right, as always," Flare groaned, "Are we going to just call it a night already or what, Meek?"

"Sorry," Miki answered, helping him up. "But yeah… last thing I need is not to have a good night's sleep."

"_You_ need a good night's sleep?" Flare answered as he winced… Miki had hit him a lot harder than he had expected… even considering it was her. "Three days of practice and prepping… aches and pains are starting to be the only constant in my life… other than your verbal barbs."

"It's your own fault for agreeing to this," Miki answered. "Anyways… time to get some sleep."

* * *

A good night's sleep was indeed something valuable and as Anita stared up at the room of her, she reflected on who her opponent would be… Simon. The paranoid little fire and wind user that had miraculously managed to escape death numerous times.

The fight would be difficult, she knew that right away. An undying will to survive was what drove Simon to literally excel where everything said he should falter and fail. It was that will that enabled Simon to narrowly defeat Gouki and make an unprecedented comeback against Vega…

But it, the Excel Drive, had a single flaw.

And Anita understood it, and more importantly, how to exploit it.

* * *

"Kaga?"

"Yes, Anya?"

The Maximoff sat in a chair, her eyes closed and one hand raised, resting her index finger on her temple. "Things are getting down to the wire."

"Obviously."

"I'm contemplating changing the plan for tonight…"

"So everything beforehand…"

"My plans with Ryu are flawless. I refuse to believe it anything otherwise."

Kaga nodded. "They're well thought-out… but what of tonight?"

"I'm recalling what signed Kirin's death warrant here ten years ago… specifically her hesitance to stick it out. Whe Owikamki reared her little bitchy head on Makai 10 years ago, _all_ Kirin needed to do was stay out of it. But no… she caught word of an Alcemian race she had no clue where it came from, so what did she do? Look into it. Blow her cover. Get killed. She doubted she could win the day and her own fear of underestimating her opponents caused her defeats time and time again."

"Your point?"

"My point is that Kirin was so preoccupied with the little details that the big picture was lost to her. And the big picture here would preferably be to take down Owikamki and make it painful for her. Think you're up to it?"

Kaga grinned. "I've been waiting ten years for that."

* * *

"This all you got?" Brian asked as he skimmed the papers that Bulleta handed him. "This everything you have about Gregorio?"

"Boo-hoo, take it or leave it," the gunner answered. It was morning and Bulleta had dropped by Brian's room with a little information.

"I'd rather leave it…" Brian shot back. "I mean… three pages… just about history of the family and everything… nil when it comes to fighting info and everything important…" Looking up at the bitter look on her face, Brian quickly followed it up, however. "But… it's better than nothing so…"

"Wise choice. Incidentally… what's on your schedule for today anyways?"

"Sleep, prepping… light calisthenics, that kind of thing," Brian answered, looking at the older woman.

"Anything else?"

"No, not really…"

"Lazy ass…" Bulleta muttered.

"Bitch in the red dress," Brian shot back.

"Wrong," Bulleta answered. "First… it's a jumpsuit. And second, I'm the _other_ bitch in the red dress." She smirked and generated another pistol, spinning it around in her hands before pointing it straight at him and pulling the trigger. "Think fast."

BANG!

The sound echoed through the room, a small shard of diamond falling to the ground afterwards… more than one hundred thousand volts of electricity having stopped it dead in its tracks.

"Fast enough?" Brian asked, smirking.

Bulleta shrugged as a gigantic gattling gun appeared in her hands. "Wanna try with something fully automatic?"

"Oooh…" Brian returned, "Look at little Miss Trigger Happy."

"Got the money pay for wrecking this place?"

"You?"

"Let's do this elsewhere."

* * *

As Lilith opened the door to Simon's hut, she found the Severed Swordsman contestant sitting at a table, a number of bawled-up papers around him, another one hitting the ground as Simon looked at the next one.

"How'd you sleep?"

"Fine…" Simon answered, his voice a blaring horn to his current, frustrated feelings.

"And right now?"

"Fucking pissed." He spat the first word out, glad that he was facing away from the door so Lilith couldn't see the blush coming to his face after swearing.

"And why would that be?"

Simon turned to Lilith as if that was the dumbest question in the world. "Are you _crazy?_ I'm about to fight a woman that personally I _have no clue how to beat!_ The only thing I'll have going for me is she _won't_ be trying to kill me, and that actually is a bad thing! I'm really only…" Simon sighed, shaking his head. "I handled Bulleta through milking almost everything I knew, Chun Li lost her focus, beating Gouki required exactly _four_ miracles from whatever god you want to worship, and Vega seriously was trying to kill me. Now against Anita, _none of that is going to happen_. She's not going to try to kill me, so even though I'll be the proverbial indestructible tank, she's going to know every single Variable Fireball or whatever I try well in advance. And don't even get me started on fighting her head-to-head… really…"

Lilith stood there before a very mature and realistic idea came to her…

She walked right up to Simon and whacked him in the head.

"Dumbass!" she barked at the top of her lungs. "Mr. Survivor isn't even going to bother TRYING to win? YOU MORON!"

Simon looked up at her for a moment, before standing on his feet. Nodding once he walked past her. "Thanks… but if you're gonna try to do Miki's job, you need to hit harder… like you're really pissed and _not_ trying to knock somebody out of a guilt trip. When's the match?"

"You're welcome. And it's in half an hour."

* * *

A knock at the door disturbed Ryu's meditation, but the Ansatsuken fighter already knew who it was, so it really didn't matter.

"Come in, Ken," Ryu said as his best friend walked in, already set with his red gi contrasting with Ryu's white one. He turned around and saw him ready for battle, and so Ryu did the same.

"Ready for just a nice match between two friends?" Ken asked, a smile forming on his face. Ryu returned the gesture and nodded as he walked out.

"Yeah… nothing to worry about at all. Let's just get this over with."

They walked out together, each one preparing for another match against their greatest rival in complete silence. The arena was coming into view, and they knew exactly who'd they see already preparing for their match.

"When's the last time we actually did this, Ryu?"

"Dunno… during the third World Warrior tournament, I think. You gonna show me what you learned?"

Ken grinned and flexed a muscle. "Of course, nitwit! And I'll send that Rei no Hadou move of yours running scared once I'm done with you!"

"Great," Ryu answered. Upon stepping in, they already saw Simon and Anita warming up, although the look on the former's face was proof enough how nervous he was in this all. He looked over to the referee and then back at Ken. "They going first?" A nod answered the question. "Oh."

Ryu went to sit down, seeing the two girls he assumed to make up that hopping corpse sitting with Lilith and looking on, wondering whether Light Savior or Champion of Chaos would prove superior.

As he finally felt limbered up, Simon looked to Anita. "Ready?"

The girl smirked. "You won't be able to touch me, Simon."

She charged, going at a speed Simon couldn't hope to begin to track and her fist slammed into his gut. Syken durability alone saved his small intestine from bursting out his backside, and as Simon staggered back, Anita spun up for a roundhouse kick. Simon threw his arms up in defense, wincing in pain before he kicked back and knocked Anita away.

"You were saying?" he asked clutching his arms. But his mind was saying something far less confident. _Dammit! I didn't expect her to hit that hard… how can she being doing this and not triggering my full strength?_

Taking a deep breath, Anita shrugged as a cross with four sides having equal length appeared in her hands. She threw it at Simon, but it stopped in midair and vanished as soon as she got the warning as to the Variable Fireball coming her way. Anita jumped to the side just enough for the explosive attack to miss her entirely and then tackled Simon. He rolled with her, kicking the Light Savior into the air and jumping into the air and punching at her.

Too bad she caught it without any effort whatsoever.

"Weak and slow," Anita said as she threw Simon back into the ground, not surprised as he slowly got back onto his feet. "But at least persistent."

"Thanks…" Simon answered, his burgundy aura appearing as he raised himself up. He charged at Anita, his nerves tense as he pulled back for a punch. As soon as he saw Anita move to counter, he ducked under her kick and sprang up, connecting with an uppercut that sent her flying. Anita flipped in the air, landing quickly and throwing another cross at Simon. It slammed into his left arm, Simon wincing he felt his bones crack under the stress.

"Checkmate," Anita gloated. "You move to heal that and your focus will be split… and then you'll be toast."

"I'll manage," Simon responded. Anita made the next move, throwing more crosses at Simon as he back flipped several times, burning his arm back in the process…

Too bad another pair of crosses smashed into his shins. Simon slid across the sand as Anita stood above him.

"Get up."

"You sorta wrecked my legs," Simon grunted, wincing in pain.

"Alright then," Anita responded. She raised her left hand, the appendage glowing yellow before she charged. "Sanctity Dis-"

"FIREBALLS, DETONATE!"

The spectators and Anita looked down almost in unison as the spheres of the ground glowed, explosions suddenly bursting through.

"No way…" Lilith said, her eyes open wide. "I can't believe it…"

"How'd he do that?" Lin-Lin asked, her eyes open wide. She looked incredulously at her sister and Lilith, and then at Ken and Ryu, still not believing what had happened. "Seriously, that's gotta be impos-"

"He took an educated guess," Ryu answered. "As he was flipping back, he healed himself and set those bombs at the same time.

_That… that might do it…_ Lilith thought. Anita would get the warning about Simon healing himself, but wouldn't setting those fireballs just be more of the same? And that would mean that Anita had been caught off-guard by a magic attack! Did this really mean that Simon had a chance at winning against-

"Dammit."

The dust was settling, and as the audience finally got a good look, they saw Anita holding Simon in a chokehold, every joint in his arms and legs broken.

"Clever… truly clever," Anita commended. "Except for the fact I've had much more experience practicing with my abilities than you do. And since you could alter the heat level and explosive yield of the Variable Fireballs, I took an educated guess and wondered if you could delay their detonation. I guess that idea paid off."

Sudden bursts of flame around her caused Anita's focus to drift. "A Central Incendiary… you're really pushing it."

"Not like you can really stop something like that in five seconds," Simon shot back.

Anita smiled as she threw Simon away, ignoring his quick grunts of pain from landing awkwardly. "Come on… let's finish this," Anita stated. "If this is really the best you can do against me then it's obvious whatever Anya has planned will be shot down because of me."

"Very… nice point…" Simon grunted. By now, the cyclone of burning destruction had formed enough for the heat to restore Tyer, and he got back to his feet and raised his left arm. "But this is it… I can't give my all in this fight… but that's not going to be the way it's going to be if things turn sour, so I'm still going to give everything I can." The flames gathered into his palm, Anita realizing Simon was attempting the Pyro Blaster even before ice started forming on the ground.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

The two charged, yellow and burgundy forces smashing into each other and letting off a tremendous amount of energy. A good part of the stadium was damaged from the tremendous wind that had kicked up, Lilith's outstretched wings serving as a windshield for the spectators.

But then, as the dust settled, they looked on to see Anita standing there, standing opposite of Simon, who still had the Pyro Blaster in his hands.

He hadn't even touched her.

"Sanctity Dispersal."

And then at seven points of his body, yellow shafts of light burst out, Simon collapsing on the ground as two words slowly clawed their way out of his throat.

"You… win…"

* * *

"Hmm… can't win them all…" Blade sighed as she walked along the path with Miki and Brian, hearing the results of the fight between Simon and Anita from Talbain.

"WHAT?" the werewolf shouted on the other end. "But he lost-"

"To Anita," Donovan's voice spoke up from another line. "If anything, this is _good_… no offense, but it's not as if Simon's abilities have limitations."

"Oh, that's obvious," Miki answered. "But-" She stopped, along with Blade and Brian as they saw the arrogant figure of Kaga leaning against a wall and staring at them. "I'll call you back…"

Kaga then looked at all of them and smirked.

"We're on the way to our match, so split," Brian said, generating his trademark Lightning Magnum. "Or do you have something you want to tell us?"

Kaga stood straight and shrugged. "Oh, just a few things. First, Team Guns & Roses will be declared disqualified since I'll be the man to kill all three of you."

"Fat chance," Blade responded as she unsheathed her staff and split it into its sword form. "But I _would_ like a little warm up before our match."

Kaga shrugged. "Not going to happen. Because I've been waiting for this for ten years, and mark my words, Miki… _you and your little trainees _won't_ be beating me again._" He grinned… only for a rapier to impale his head less than a second later.

"You bastard," Miki said as she saw a long and inhuman tongue loll out of Kaga's mouth, his skin turning blue like a rotting corpse's. "I should have put the pieces together right away…how else could Anya ever plot all of these about Alcemia when everyone else that Kirin had been connected to was dead? So…" Miki didn't flinch as Kaga's tongue grip the sword and fling it into the ground in front of the three, "You're the only one that could have possibly would have supplied that info. And it's not like you really ever died, right… Kaga Familiar? Or maybe I should call you by your real name… _Zabel Zarock_."

"And it's _good_ to drop the act!" Zabel shouted as the formal business suit vanished, replaced by the ripped shorts he had traditionally worn as a small, one-eyed animal appeared next to him. "And who better to back up the illusion act of creating animals than my dear buddy Le Malta!" The little demon grinned as a number of chainsaw blades popped out of Zabel's joints. "And you bitches are _so_ dead!"

And then a white laser blew a hole straight in his head, Brian smirking at the attack that had been sent from his outstretched finger. "Oh yeah? Let's see you undead your way out of an Anti-Necro God Cannon." The body fell apart, decomposing…

Except suddenly it appeared behind Brian, the gunner turning around just in time as Zabel slashed at him, aiming for his neck.

"NO WAY YOU'RE KILLING HIM!"

Three diamond shards lodged in Zabel's head as he staggered back, Bulleta landing as well.

"I should have known…" the newcomer growled as Zabel looked at his opponents. "Things just go from bad to worse…"

Zabel smirked as he noticed Le Malta was salivating at the sight of Bulleta… that little guy still had the hots for her. "Oh, you have _no_ idea, babe… I don't care if it's four on one or forty on one… because I'm still going to come out on top!"

* * *

Ryu and Ken exchanged glances as the two friends readied for battle, Simon's unconscious body having been carted away an Anita sitting down with the others.

"Ready?" Ryu asked. Ken nodded.

"Oh yeah. This'll be good."

Without another word, Ryu charged and sent two swift punches straight at Ken. His American rival jumped back, skidding away on his left foot as his right sprang upwards, kicking Ryu in the face. As Ryu took the hit, he bent down before going back up, a Shoryuken his response to Ken's ferocity.

Ryu's attack connected magnificently, Ken sliding back on the ground and wiping the blood from his mouth before getting back to his feet and trying to regain his focus as Ryu sent a Hadouken right at him. Ken countered with one of his own, but Ryu charged at him with fist outstretched almost immediately. Ken held his ground until the last second, but as soon as Ryu was in range, he sprang into action.

"SHINRYUKEN!"

The burning blast slammed into Ryu, the shock and stress of the attack catching him by surprise as he heard a voice speak up from somewhere inside of him.

_Choose my path, Ryu!_

_No, choose mine!_

And suddenly he wasn't fighting against Ken… he found himself standing in a dark landscape… seeing so many familiar faces surrounding him.

He saw Gouki, facing away from him. _Choose my path, Ryu… became the master of Ansatsuken… one to surpass even me!_

_Don't listen to him, Ryu!_ Shouted another. He turned to see Ken staring at another path. _Choosy my path, Ryu! Just make the fight all that's important… enjoy it!_

_Are you kidding?_ This time it was Sakura. _Come on, Ryu! I really want you to train me! Please!_

_No way should you listen to them! _Now it was Sagat. _ You still owe me that rematch!_

_No, Ryu!_ Now it was Rose of all people. _You need to find the way of your Soul!_

There were so many… so many voices telling him which way to live… he couldn't decide… he couldn't decide… he couldn't…

"**_STOP IT!_**"

… Ken was awestruck as Ryu landed from the attack, his friend looking so different now. His skin seemed… strained, and he just felt so… empty…

He then looked at Ken, straight in the eye, and answered in an unemotional voice. "Ken. I will kill you."

A/N: Ryu has succumbed to something… but it's far from anything anyone could expect. Now with not a care in the world and not giving a damn about his actions, it seems nobody can stop Ryu… except for perhaps a particular half-Syken. And in the meantime, Zabel proves to be stronger than anyone could ever think, and the question arises How do you kill the Unkillable?


	21. How Do You Kill the Unkillable?

A/N: Wow… it's been ages since I updated this. Sorry… other things got in the way… things that people _reviewed_ to. Anyways…

The sight of Ryu alone made Ken shiver… seeing like… like _this_, was downright frightening. It wasn't like that time that Bison brainwashed him… Ryu didn't look or sound psychotic…

He just didn't _care_.

"Ryu, come on man, snap out of it!" Ken said nervously as he dropped into a fighting stance. He was a fighter, after all. If Ryu needed his help, he'd give it the only way he knew how.

"Ma Hadouken."

Ken never knew what hit him, and he was quickly and effortlessly blown into a wall by a tremendous force of energy as Ryu turned to the onlookers.

"Could you," Ryu again passively asked, "Could you sense that ahead of time, Anita?" He turned to her, the look of shock on her face evident to the world. "What about this one?" Another demonic Hadouken was fired, but Lilith was in front of her, the Succubus's wings folded and taking the brunt of the attack. It didn't completely shield the damage, but Lilith was glad she got there in time. The look and shock on Anita's face was evident the girl wouldn't have found the mental focus to dodge in time.

"Answer me, girl," Ryu said. Suddenly a large number of chains lashed around him, Ryu turned to see Hsien-Ko had bound him. "Well?"

Anita moved to speak, but her mouth was entirely dry. Trying to choke out the words, she finally spoke. "I… I couldn't sense _anything_."

"Good."

Ryu instantly broke from the chains, appearing in front of Lei-Lei and punching her in the face. She sailed away into a wall as Ryu spun to dodge Lilith's Soul Fist. Utilizing one of Gouki's Ashura Warps, he appeared behind her and blasted her away as well, although the girl managed to stay on her feet and turn around.

_I was hoping I'd have known what was going to happen… if I'd known about this…_ Lilith thought, _I would have practiced more with Kirin's abilities._

Ryu stared Anita dead in the face, with that same uncaring expression before raising his hand. The Light Savior stared at something that not only baffled her, but _scared_ her. What had happened to Ryu? She couldn't understand it whatsoever…

"PUNK RED VIOLET!"

Ryu turned to see the burgundy sphere shoot at him, but he quickly jumped away. Standing there with his swords in hand was Simon, looking as fresh as a morning daisy.

"Anita, snap out of it," Simon said. The girl didn't seem to be in the mood to move at all. He then looked over to Lilith. "Aensland… get Hsien-Ko and Anita out of here. I don't want to worry about someone getting in the crossfire."

Lilith nodded silently, quickly picking up Ken, and Hsien-Ko, forming giant red hands to carry them as she ran past Simon, grabbing Anita's hand and not looking back. There would be time for answers later.

"You're back on your feet… so soon too." Ryu neutrally stated.

Simon nodded. "You sound surprised."

"The Light Savior completely humiliated you in battle. I had expected even with your healing abilities you wouldn't be raising a hand against me."

Simon gripped his swords a little tighter before answering. This would be hard. "Hey, I'm Mr. Paranoid. I knew Anita would be off-limits for anything Anya planned, so that left either you or Ken. I fight Anita, take a few beatings, call it quits when I normally would… and you never know? Best way to find out someone's plan is to be there when they think you're out of the loop."

* * *

"Dammit," Blade growled as she, Brian, Miki, and Bulleta all stared at Zabel… the fight so far was evenly-matched, but they were getting worn out killing all the creatures he just made from nothing. "At this rate we'll be late for our match…"

"Well then go already!" Bulleta shouted, firing a number of diamond rounds. "_I'm_ out of the tournament, so leave it to me and _you_ won't be!"

Zabel suddenly laughed out loud as a gigantic pile of bones barred the road, although now that much of the illusion was dispelled, they simply looked like Le Malta's body all spread out. "Tough luck, bitches. You ain't going nowhere!"

"It's a nice ploy," another voice called out as a fiery, dragon-like image smashed through the bones. Standing behind it was Gallon, and next to him, Donovan. "But still futile in the end."

Unsheathing his mighty sword, Donovan charged, slashing at Zabel. A sword of bone magically appeared, blocking Donovan's attack as Miki, Brian, and Blade quickly ran away to the arena.

"You're… stronger…" Donovan growled as he tried to overpower Zarock. The zombie seemed like… like he was on an entirely different level of strength than Donovan ever believed he ever could be…

"TEN YEARS CAN DO THAT TO YOU, MATE!" Raptor shouted at the top of his lungs, kicking Donovan away just in time to jump away from Talbain, who was slashing down at him. He spun around, the werewolf barely bending backwards in time to avoid a chainsaw-related death. "Ten damn years of prep and training! You have any idea how hard it can be just reconstituting yourself from nothing when you've had no previous experience doing so? IT'S BLOODY FRUSTRATING!"

"Well, I spent these ten years getting a hell of a lot stronger, zombie-boy," Miki announced as she charged, chainsaw clashing against obsidian blade as the others charged.

"YOU KEEP OUT OF THIS!" Zabel shouted as bones suddenly shot out of the ground. Bulleta and Brian jumped away just in the nick of time, but it Donovan, Talbain, and Blade simply slashed through and continued charging.

"Outnumbered, asshole," Miki announced as she clamped two obsidian-coated hands onto one of Raptor's buzzsaws before kicking at his chest.

"OWIKAMKI! GET OUT OF THERE!" Donovan shouted.

Acting on reflex, Miki pushed off with her hands, flipping away just as a gigantic sword burst from Raptor's chest. He spun like a top, the entire group springing away.

"Dammit… at this rate, he's not going down until long after we'd be disqualified!" Brian growled in frustration.

"Then what are you guys waiting for?!?" Bulleta howled in response, "Just make a dash for it and don't look back no matter what! We'll hold our own!"

"We can afford to stay here, you can't," Donovan added as he gripped Dyleck a little more tightly, Talbain getting his nunchuku in hand. "You tried just a moment ago anyways… just try again."

"And that was before they showed up too," Bulleta added. Slowly, the three members of Team Guns & Roses nodded and took off sprinting. Turning to Raptor, Bulleta generated a gigantic gattling gun and fired off a flurry of diamond rounds at him, Donovan and Talbain channeling up fiery blasts to add to the assault.

_SHIT!_ Zabel thought as he saw them run away… _I can't focus enough for a wall or something with all this crap coming at me!_ Raising up his defenses, the attacks smashed into a wall of chainsaws and bones before he made up his mind. _LE MALTA!_

_Yeah, boss? What you want me to form this time?_

_IT!_

The group suddenly stopped… looking up when they noticed a rapidly growing shadow.

Donovan and Gallon realized what it was first…

"MIKI! LERNAN! BLADE! RUN FOR IT!"

They put on an extra burst of speed… but it was too late…

A Blue Whale the size of a whole city block hit the ground hard right on top of them… a flurry of slashes and gun blasts shooting up to it.

Of the three that were crushed by it… only one jumped through the whole she had formed…

Miki.

The sounds of battle fell on ears that weren't in tune to it as Miki looked down at the gigantic creature… _They're alive… they've handled worse…_

For good measure, she kicked Le Malta's whale form… if only to let him know he wasn't getting away with this.

"hey… Owikamki…"

She blinked, smiling. That voice was pretty down in there but still there.

"Yeah, you two?"

"Give me…" Brian's voice started, "Like fifteen minutes to get out of this… Blade's here too… but it'll take her a little longer. But one of us has to-"

"Point taken," Miki said as she took off sprinting.

* * *

Priming himself for the initial charge, Simon was quite thankful that he was already out of the tournament. This meant he could fight the way he preferred…

With a katana that bestowed excellent swordsmanship in one hand, and a wooden blade that cut through pretty much everything in the other. With these in his hands… the intimidating figure of a guy that made Anita suddenly crash seemed much less intimidating.

"I don't give a damn how many weapons you use," Ryu flatly stated. "I'll kill you no matter what you try."

Rather than begin a sequence of verbal barbs, Simon just charged. Why try to cut him with a sharp tongue when the weapon of Balteria Ciercin would do a much better job?

The sudden sight of Anya bursting into view through a puff of flame between them caused Simon to stop… what was going on here anyways?

Grinning, the vampire suddenly began speaking as if to an audience… "Ladies and Gentlemen… it appears there has been a slight change! Although Ryu Hoshi has emerged the victor of his battle against his best friend… I and the judges have been viewing Simon Tyer's match against Anita and have decided that the crosses she used count as a foreign object directly used for offensive purposes… effectively disqualifying her from the tournament!

"THEREFOR," Anya concluded, shooting a lethal glare to Simon, "We have decided that the final round will be Simon Tyer's chance to redeem himself! Will he succeed against what seems an impossible opponent…" she grinned sadistically before ending, "Or will he _fail…_ a blow to the inflated egos of those that hold him as a hero? That is all! Stay tuned for the final match of the Singles Bracket at 11:59 PM tomorrow night!"

She vanished, Ryu following her as Simon bit his lip.

"Dammit… she's going to use Ryu as her posterboy for taking me down…"

Sheathing his swords, Simon turned and walked away. He needed to sleep on this matter… come up with some kind of plan…

* * *

"Well…" Gregorio Hartland mused, standing there with the only member of his team that had tagged along with him for this round. He checked his watch, sighing in fake concern before he stared at the triplet of refs that were going to judge the match, grinning at the sight of Morrigan looking genuinely concerned… "It's been ten minutes… call the match."

Before Morrigan could speak up for at least a few more moments, however, a strong voice echoed in the arena as a girl with inverted eyes charged into view.

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY I'M DISQUALIFIED!" Miki screamed at the top of her lungs, sliding into view before pointing an accusatory finger at Gregorio. "And I demand that _they_ get kicked out of this tournament too! I'm betting they're connected with Anya and how her little butler just happened to be Zabel Zarock… the others are busy fighting him."

_ZAROCK?_ Morrigan thought… _I hadn't expected him to return after…_

"Prove it," Gregorio stated, looking at Miki and grinning as Mejina, his… "assistant", in these affairs took a few steps forward. "I claim that I had no knowledge of this whatsoever. It would be your word against mine… and at that point it is an impasse. Refs… any problem?"

Morrigan was about to speak up… the whole situation Persimmon was still fresh in her mind and all, but she realized she didn't have anything to work with, no ammunition to call off the match or anything. If she_ did_ try something, she might get kicked out anyways… and then what would happen? Probably someone that wouldn't give a damn about the goings on under the table in this tournament would fill her spot.

No, by the way Miki was looking, fighting for the moment was the only smart option. Morrigan would just have to wait… find some opening when it made itself available.

_Owikamki… take them down!_

Mejina grinned as she strolled up to Miki and cracked her neck. "So… it's been a while, no?"

"Come again? I don't think I ever met you."

"Oh please," Mejina said, mocking a heartbroken tone, "Been a while since you set foot on Makai, no? What I'm talking about, however, is…" she grinned, "It was ten years ago that you devised the Broken Mirror fighting style, no?"

"What of it?"

Mejina looked over to the refs… technically the match had started… good.

"I just… just want to say that-"

Before Miki could even comprehend it, Mejina's knee smashed into her gut, Miki coughing out blood immediately before the demoness sprang away and then smashed her foot into the Darkinarki's face, knocking her away.

_That…_ Miki thought as she struggled to her feet, _That just wasn't fast… every… every action she did was done _perfectly!_ She… she…_

"I am the woman that has surpassed you in the ways of the Broken Mirror," Mejina announced, softly smiling in the way that let Miki knew a pair of devil horns would be found underneath that hair. "You are, in most regards, _human_… whereas I am a demon. My thought processes exceed yours, therefor, my ability to react to attacks and come up with appropriate countermeasures from the Broken Mirror is greater than yours. I must thank you so much for coming up with such a wonderful fighting style, however…"

Miki rose up to her feet, wiping the blood away and taking a few breaths to regain her focus. "I don't give a damn, floozy. I've tackled worse than you." She charged, punching quickly and immediately slowing down her perception of time… she'd need it for sure.

Mejina stared at the fist flying at her before taking a few steps to the left, and even amidst Miki's perception, the woman still moved unbelievably fast. "A standard punch… the elbow not locked so as to not run the risk of the arm being broken-" She jumped into the air as Miki's leg shot out, "A nigh-flawless strike, a kick straight up so as to allow your body weight to shift to your right side… bravo…"

Mejina's praise was followed by a kick to the side of the head that sent Miki spiraling. Mejina charged, slamming her fist down at Miki's head, but Owikamki formed blades on her elbows and stabbed them into the ground, kicking up.

"An effective counter," Mejina sighed, flipping off Miki's legs before redirecting her attack to be Miki's chest and then spring away. "But I told you already. But by the time you think up at counter, I've already come up with at least three responses to it."

"Go to hell," Miki growled, forming her trademark wrist blades.

Mejina bowed in mock appreciation. "My home's there, idiot. Seriously, what do you hope to achieve by continuing this? A thorough humiliation is all that's in store for you."

Miki shook her head. "No, I'm standing and fighting, that's what I'm doing. Every second I stand here is another one for those I care about to be able to try to get here. So…" she turned to the refs, focusing mainly on Morrigan, "Don't think about declaring me the loser of this… or you are _so_ dead." She turned back to Mejina, who was just chuckling.

"Give up already. Your greatest strength is your quick, adaptive mind and the skills you've picked up. But they're useless here."

Miki smiled in response. "As a matter of fact, you're wrong. Your assumption would only be true if I was the exact same type of demon as you…" She took off charging, black and negative energies forming around her fist, "AND YOU CAN'T COPY A SINGULARITY FIST!"

"Don't need to," Mejina said as she threw a small rock at Miki's fist, the stone shattering instantly as Miki suddenly looked horrified and shocked at it as Mejina came at her. "That thing just destroys the first thing it hits, right? Problem solved…" she grabbed Miki in a chokehold and slammed her into the ground. "You're exhausted now… no way to possibly win."

_Funny thing about grabbing me…_ Miki thought as Mejina suddenly let go… no doubt having expected a razor sharp impaling by a few secreted obsidian blades… only for none to come out. _She's smart… she let go. Then again…_

The next thing Mejina experienced was the pain of a large, obsidian shard sticking out of Miki's foot having impaled her shin. The demon screamed in pain as Miki slid back up and punched her hard and away… glad to finally land a blow.

"Congratulations," Miki said, trying to catch her breath again, "You just showed your incompetence when it comes to me and my abilities."

Mejina, eyes wide in shock as she rose to her feet, growling, answered as best she could. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?"

Miki shrugged. "You might have been able to learn about how I my fighting style, or at least the physical part of it… but don't forget! I can manipulate anything that doesn't have mass too! And light is part of that!"

Mejina froze… "So… that Singularity Fist?"

"Just a basic punch. Your pride gave me the opening to do some actual damage. How's that leg feeling? With your demon status… I give it… twenty minutes, twenty-five _tops_ before it gives out on you. Gonna be hard to keep up with me when you're hopping around, eh?"

She turned to Gregorio. "What about you? You gonna jump in on this or something?"

"Oh no, I like to watch," was his answer.

Mejina charged again, her arrogance gone and now replaced by nothing but anger. "FINE, BITCH! YOUR LIFE IS, BY YOUR OWN ADMISSION… NOT EVEN GOING TO LAST ANOTHER HALF-HOUR!" She kicked with her good leg, stopped as Miki raised her guard, dropped to the ground, and followed-through, knocking Miki on the ground. Owikamki rolled away just in time to avoid a bone-crushing punch, but her immediate response, a spin-kick like a breakdancer, failed as Mejina sprang into the air. She kicked down, hitting Miki's head with her good leg.

"Heh… you were saying?" Mejina asked as Miki reeled back, but with a large grin on her face.

"What? My plan was to beat up your leg with my head, not the other way around."

Mejina was confused, but as soon as she hit the ground, she screamed in pain, blood bursting from every angle on her other leg in the process. She noticed black smoke curling away from Miki's head…

A plate of obsidian… she had formed a plate on her forehead to be a blunt shield…

"You can adapt faster than I can… _usually_," Miki said as Mejina looked at her. "But between those two injuries, I'd say I have at _least_ a fighting chance against some copycat slut. Would you concur?"

* * *

"TOO LATE!" Gallon shouted as he slipped under Zabel's slash… rocketing up into the air as his feet split the zombie in half.

The werewolf spun away and landed on the ground, relieved at the sight of Zabel's two halves starting to fall apart. For good measure, a flurry of diamond bullets smashed into his body and Donovan gave him an expert horizontal cut.

But then he, Bulleta, and Donovan were awestruck at the sight of the zombie's body suddenly come back together on itself, Raptor completely enraged as he pointed an accusatory finger at Gallon.

"YOU HAVE _ANY_ IDEA HOW MUCH THAT HURTS?" He shouted, "I mean, yeah, it's not as hard as putting yourself back together after you've been ripped to shreds, but it's still something!"

"No way…" Bulleta snorted, "Is there any way for this bastard to just go down?"

Suddenly two bodies burst out of the gigantic whale-form of Le Malta… Blade and the gunner…

"Holy crap! He's still not dead you?" Blade asked, awestruck and surprised by the sight… Turning to Brian, she nodded towards the arena. "Get going. I'll help here… I didn't think-"

"No way. I'm the guy with the zombie-killer move. Just one shot… seriously…"

Zabel turned just in time to see a large white laser shooting at him… seemingly blowing him away as the Champion of Chaos sighed in relief.

"Shoulda just done the Neo A-NGC right away…" he sighed.

"BRIAN!"

He turned in time to see Raptor suddenly reappear behind him, slashing down with a chainsaw as Bulleta kicked the zombie away. Brian blinked in shock, confused. "That… that should've… the move instantly kills any undead on conta-"

"Point taken here is that Zabel isn't like any ordinary zombie," Donovan assumed. "He put himself back together after Jedah ripped him to shreds, we can't take anything for granted with him. And time's running out. Get to Owikamki and lend her a hand."

Brian nodded as Blade smiled and swung her rapiers around as the four of them stared at Raptor, the Oracle smiling for a suspicious reason. "Finally…" she finally announced, "_FINALLY!_ I get to actually fight someone here without any rules or regulations… this is going to be just great."

"Count me in on this too." A black knife sailed through the air, hitting the ground near Zabel's foot as a fifth figure jumped into the group, Flare standing there in all his pseudo-vampire glory. "I was at the stadium waiting for Miki's match… she's there… and was faring decently when I left. But…" he pointed at Zabel, "I think you stepped over a line by laying a finger on the woman I love."

Looking at Flare, however, Zabel suddenly laughed. "I stepped over a line, boy? I mean… here you are, standing up against me and of course…" he snapped his fingers. "LE MALTA! How you doing?"

"Sorry boss!" The demon quickly shrunk down from its gigantic, whale-like into a ball that Zabel happily and casually tossed into the air a few times as he looked at his enemies. Five extremely powerful enemies, and yet he really didn't give a damn. They just couldn't kill him, nothing could.

"If you're going to play basketball, you're missing a few team members," Gallon dryly stated.

Zabel shrugged. "I've got my backup right here."

He casually threw Le Malta on the ground, Blade, Flare, Donovan, Gallon, and Bulleta's eyes opening wide in shock at what he formed this time.

"Wha-what the… RAPTOR!"

Standing there was Demitri.

A/N: Again, sorry for not updating earlier. The lack of response does not help out with my updating rates for this. Nevertheless, we're nearing the end… next chapter up is To Restore One's Resistence.


	22. To Restore One's Resistence

A/N: Wow! This time I'm updating quickly! YAY! And just want to give another round of thanks to my two loyal reviewers, Knight25 and Jet Black Jr., since you're the guys that have found the time to tell me how you've liked this. Hope you enjoy these last few chapters… probably got about three left in this! So in the great words of another vampire… WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

Silence descended on the entire group as Demitri looked around. The last thing he remembered… Ryu had just killed him. What was he doing here and why was…

"ZABEL!!!" he roared, turning around. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME?!?"

"It's obvious," Donovan said. With his abilities revealed at long last, Raptor's abilities seemed so much easier to understand. True, he couldn't think of anything to actually kill Raptor yet, but his experiences as a demon hunter certainly paid off. "He reconstitutes you and therefor can control you. Spending almost ten years putting yourself together, and you have the experience to do it to someone else. Must've just wanted another warm body in the tournament to clear up the competition."

Demitri's eyes narrowed as he stared back at Donovan. "Is that s-" He suddenly slumped over, Zabel sighing as he shook his head.

"Sorry about that… it'll be easier if I leave his brain in the ether. Now…" he laughed and snapped his fingers, as if remembering something. "Where were we?"

He and the now brain-dead Demitri charged at the group, full speed.

* * *

Miki and Mejina roared as they charged each other, fists smashing into each other, and although Miki was managing to keep up with the injured demon, that was very much a stalemate that would end before Mejina's legs gave out due to the exhausting pace Miki forced herself to fight at. Their fists smashed into each other, Mejina predicting Miki's attempt to generate obsidian blades from her knuckles well in advance. She then grabbed the Darkinarki's wrist and threw her up in the air, jumping up and kicking her to the ground.

Grunting in frustration, Miki sprung off the ground, landed on her feet, then jumped into the air at Mejina, finally succeeding in landing a punch to the demon's face. Mejina spun from the impact to lessen the damage, her fist pounding into Miki's gut and knocking the weaker girl away.

Skidding on the sandy ground, Miki got back to her feet and turned just in time to see Mejina punching at her. A knee to the gut went without a counter at first, but Miki charged in a headbutt that Mejina jumped over and kicked Miki in the head again before screaming out.

That damn Owikamki had formed another obsidian plate on her head… and she'd fallen for it.

"That's not too good for your leg," Miki growled as she smashed both of her fists against the side of Mejina's head, drawing a modest amount of blood in the process. _About time too… I was seriously worried it was only her legs that could bleed…_

Charging at the slightly dazed Mejina, Miki punched her in the chest, earning a slight grunt of pain from her adversary before hopping in the air and kicking the demon in the throat. Mejina leaned backwards, but then snapped forward, open-palm strikes punishing Miki's stomach and head that quickly left the woman's hands covered in blood.

Moving in for the finishing blow, Mejina was glad to see Miki's hand glow black again. _It's either a Singularity Fist or just another fake one. Either way, I'll be cautious and-_

Miki sent an uppercut at Mejina, who barely bent out of the way in time as a black bolt of energy came from Miki's arm, arcing upwards but still catching the demon first. "Got you… bitch…" Miki panted with a grin as Mejina suddenly looked up to see the black and imposing figure of a bird-like creature shooting down at her.

"BENNU PILE DRIVER!"

The bird rammed into Mejina, sending her plummeting to the ground and onto Miki's bladed arm. The voluptuous demon screamed in pain as Miki kicked her off onto the ground.

Morrigan blinked in surprise… seeing that Mejina was even more awestruck than her. _I never thought Owikamki would have a trick like that up her sleeve… it totally deviate from her entire fighting style…_

Mejina shared the succubus's sentiments, her head snapping up and looking at Miki as she rose to her feet. "That… that move…"

"Oh, that thing?" Miki asked innocently, "Based off a move of Flare's. When you spend over a year living with someone, you learn plenty of things from them." She then grinned. "Come to think of it… if that worked so well…" The grin then slowly morphed, expanding into almost a sadistic grin on the redhead's face. She stood to face Mejina, although she shifted her right foot back a few inches from her left and raised both of her arms.

"You… you won't be able to keep up with me anymore."

"BULLSHIT!" Mejina shouted, charging at Miki. She kicked fast, faster than Miki could possibly have the time to block or evade.

So Miki instead smashed her fist into the demon's upper leg, damaging and likely cracking the thigh bone in the process. Another punch to the face dumbfounded Mejina, and she was quickly swept off her feet by a kick to her other leg's kneecap. She rolled away, confused and baffled by this sudden turn of events.

Miki suddenly began chuckling innocently, Mejina looking at her with clenched fists and gritting teeth. "WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY!?!"

"You trained yourself for these past ten years to defeat me, correct?" Miki asked honestly. "The Broken Mirror's Broken Mirror. Capable of outfoxing and outthinking me and therefor predicting my counters before they came about and reacting to them… But it's _there_ that you sealed your death. Because riddle me this, Mejina…"

She pointed at the demon, her trademark arrogant and cocky expression gracing her face in spite of the blood on it.

"What happens when I decide to fight like Flare _rather than use the Broken Mirror_?!?"

Mejina suddenly went pale… at the same time Morrigan breathed a sigh of relief. _Then… that means Miki has this fight in the bag._

The arm that suddenly had reached around her neck and the hand on her shoulder caused her to look at Gregorio, who seemed undisturbed by this most recent turnabout. "I must hand it to Mejina…" he sighed, turning to Morrigan and grinning. "She's excellent when it comes to role-playing… of course you-"

"Not in the mood for it," Morrigan responded as she gripped his arm and shoved him away. "First of all, no making moves on the referees. Second, if you're _that _eager, I'll numb certain parts of you first… no point in making you feel happy, right?"

Gregorio shrugged. "No fault in trying to have you see the light…"

Meanwhile, Mejina was rising to her feet, deciding to end this little act. "Owikamki… you are certainly worthy of your reputation… and although the only thing you're not endowed with being an ample bust, that is easily remedied after I break you here and now."

"Try it," Miki answered. "This fight has been slowly turning to my favor with every passing second… and by the looks of your legs, you don't have much time left to beat me."

Mejina charged, jabbing out twice although Miki simply took a few steps back with each strike before ramming into Mejina. She moved in for a few quick lacerations… but suddenly felt a hand smack against her gut…

Followed by an unbelievably painful blast of energy that sent Miki into the air and then hitting into the ground, her mouth slightly open and a blank look on her face.

"Pride…" Mejina said as she walked over to Miki and kicked her in the gut, sending her flying across the ground. "That is your greatest fault… your avarice that makes you feel capable of overcoming everything. It disgusts me that you provided such a challenge to me, Owikamki. You thought you could beat me and tried your goddamned best… but all you achieved in the end was pissing me off and making a fool of yourself." She walked over to Miki and put her leg on Miki's back, turning to the refs. "Go ahead… call the match already."

Morrigan couldn't believe her eyes… but before she could voice her objections, Miki's voice spoke out.

"What? Before the big finish?"

_WHAT?!?_ Mejina thought, recoiling just in time as an obsidian spike shot up from Miki's back… the girl rising up again… looking near death but with a grin still on her face.

"Wow… you expel a blast of _energy_ at me… like I couldn't just redirect it…" Miki cracked her neck. "And all that shit about me and pride… it can easily be applied to you."

Mejina charge, Miki surprisingly turning her back to her.

"You and me… we're not even in the same league," Miki said calmly before turning to face Mejina, not even three feet away. She calmly ducked Mejina's strike, checking her mental-math concerning time. Yep… this fight was already over. "Lethal Laceration."

Suddenly Mejina's footing faltered, her gaze meeting Miki's… the inverted eyes of the assassin saying just one thing.

_You are already dead._

Miki then walked away from her… just as countless cuts appeared all over Mejina's body. Blood spurted out of over two dozen gashes… and then her head promptly fell off. Miki then turned to the refs.

"Okay. She's not going to make a comeback. Call it."

WHAM!

Miki suddenly crumpled forward from the intense pain of something smashing into her back, a man's hand grabbing her by the back of the head and delivering enough pressure to rob her of any focus.

"What? _I'm_ still here," Gregorio said from behind Miki, "Unfortunately for you… nobody will be here to save you any time soon."

BANG!

A sudden impact caused Gregorio to let go of Miki, staggering sideways as everyone turned to see Brian standing there, Lightning Magnum in hand.

"My mistake… I'll use the armor-piercing rounds next time."

Miki's eyes lit up, although Gregorio roared in frustration. "This… this isn't allowed! He's late to the fight!" He turned to the refs, grinning Morrigan. "Surely, even _you_ must agree this goes against the rules!"

Morrigan opened her mouth for a moment before closing it. She promptly walked over to Miki and slapped her in the face. "SHAME ON YOU, OWIKAMKI!" she shouted. "Using your abilities to fold light and hide Lernan from everyone's view and lure Hartland into a sense of false-security! You're lucky I caught on…" she turned and then walked away. "Otherwise you would have to be disqualified."

"But… but…" Gregorio said as he turned back to Brian, who grinned. Miki hobbled away as Brian stared down his adversary.

"Prove it." Brian stated dryly before charging at the demon.

* * *

Dodging chainsaws, energy blasts, and pretty much everything else Zabel could throw at them, in retrospect as Donovan fought against them, was not necessarily that difficult. The challenge rested in a problem that seemed to have no solution…

How did you kill a man that could reconstitute himself?

A sudden yelp from Bulleta caused him to turn back for a moment… Le Malta had formed himself into a giant squid and was about for fall on her… Blade incinerating it with a massive sphere of energy dropped from above. With that crisis averted, he brought Dylec smashing down through Raptor, cutting him in half… although it did nothing but give him a few moment's reprieve.

He had tried everything… every trick he knew, every element at Dylec's disposal… and nothing worked at all.

The moment's reflection cost Donovan dearly, Demitri appearing behind him and launching himself, fangs bared, at the Dhampir…

"DONOVAN!" Gallon, Blade, and Bulleta shouted. Between their own struggles, there was no way-

"SHADOW CONVERSION!"

A small black dagger shot through the air, catching into Demitri's back and promptly turning him entirely into shadows before vanishing. Raptor suddenly screamed in pain, dropping to his knees as everyone else turned to see the rather late-coming but nevertheless welcomed Flare Aniar.

"That weird prophecy thing Enteria got… he wasn't talking about Demitri, Zombie-boy! He was talking about _you!_"

Blade blinked in surprise… that was the solution…

_He has arisen again, ten years after his death against a dark villain._

Not Demitri, but Zabel.

"YOU BASTARD!" Raptor screamed, "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

_He will vow revenge against the Aniar name and all who hold it._

_Shadows that slayed him once before will fail and a new dark being must arise to vanquish him again._

And that person was Flare.

Whereas Jedah's powers had granted temporary victory… Flare ran full-sprint. Without needing any verbal communication, a blast of fire from Blade smashed Zabel into the ground. It was followed by an intense stream of energy summoned by Gallon, accompanied by a gattling-gun firing pure diamond into him, nailing him to a wall.

Donovan struck fast, cutting the zombie's head off and flipping it towards the Aniar King, who promptly impaled Zabel's head with it.

"SHADOW CONVERSION!"

Zabel screamed in agony, his body promptly going limp and rotting away.

"Sorry… sorry about that," Flare said as he looked around. "Had to run here from the stadium…"

* * *

A knocking on her door caused Anita to blink once and look over form her bed. "Come in."

The door slowly opened, Lilith, Lei-Lei, and Lin-Lin creeping in as the Light Savior smiled weakly.

"Feeling better?" Lilith asked. Anita sighed.

"Whatever Ryu is… it isn't good…"

"Any idea?" Lei-Lei asked as they all sat down. "Like, any clues on what happened to him?"

Anita slowly got up, taking a few deep breaths. "It felt like… he had lost his humanity… but different than like Gouki or anyone else. It wasn't like he hated anyone or anything, he just didn't _care_. I have no idea how getting scraped by Demitri's fangs could cause that at all…"

"There has to be something though…" Lin-Lin said as she thought. Being the magic-inclined twin, she tried to figure out anything that could possibly explain it.

They all sat in silence for half an hour, every so often one of them about to speak something, then immediately realizing that the idea didn't make any sense. Eventually, however, Anita stood up.

"This is getting us nowhere. Instead… we should be trying to figure out some way of helping Simon recover the entirety of the Excel Drive… without any kind of foreign object allowed to be used as a weapon, he's going to be in a tough spot tomorrow…"

An idea suddenly occurred to Lilith. "I know exactly how to help. Simon should only be lacking the part of the Excel Drive stemming from one's desire to resist… But… there's something I need to confess you all of you… about Kirin…"

* * *

"ANTI-NECRO GOD CANNON!" Brian shouted, the white laser shooting across the ground and at Gregorio, who simply raised his hand. The attack stopped instantly, Brian wide-eyed as the demon vanished and materialized in front of him, arm pulled back for a punch to the gut.

Lernan stumbled back, confused and in pain as Hartland smashed his fists into the gunner's head. Brian responded quickly… forming the Lightning Scatter and firing it point-blank, although the attack had no effect.

"Your attacks are slow and unimpressive," Hartland said, kicking Brian away as he tried to catch his breath. This whole fight had been one-sided so far… and Brian was cursing the fact he had bothered fighting Zabel and running here… it hadn't been good to come in here not at full-strength.

By sheer luck alone, Brian managed to flip away from Gregorio's punch, spin around, and kick him in the side. The attack certainly did something, the demon wincing in pain as Brian charged, fists clenched.

Just as he was recovering his bearings, Gregorio caught another punch to the face, then one to the gut. Brian slightly sprang up, spinning in the air. As he pushed off the ground with his hands, his feet smashed into Gregorio's face, the noble flying away, blood finally having been drawn.

"So you still have some bite in you," Gregorio said, wiping the blood from his face. "No matter. You probably don't have the strength to pull that off again…"

Brian looked over to Miki… she was completely exhausted. A Singularity Fist was always an option… but he doubted she could strike fast enough to make it count. And if it hit the ground…

Well, the fact the damage it would inflict was determined by the mass of the object did not bode well when precision and speed would determine whether you would kill your opponent… or destroy the planet.

Brian took a deep breath… Hartland was already charging. He had to figure out how the demon was negating his attacks… they were too strong to just withstand physically, and the God Cannon pierced anything organic…

"BRIAN!"

Miki's shout tore him out of his focus in time for him to raise his arms up to block Gregorio's attack. Now he was busy trying to think _and _defend himself… not a good combination. He'd do what he could, though. Brian side-stepped a kick, firing off another Anti-Necro God Cannon just to see if he was missing something…

The attack dissipated millimeters from Gregorio's face, the demon having expected it and then kicking Brian in the gut. He hunched forward, the demon grabbing him by the hair, punching him in the back, and then shoving him away.

"How much longer are you going to continue these futile attempts?" Gregorio asked with a small grin and a shrug. Brian looked over to Miki, leaning against a wall, but unperturbed. She knew the answer to the problem… even if the problem itself was currently a mystery.

Brian turned back to Gregorio, and decided to try something… different.

"Anti-Necro…" Brian said, pointing at Gregorio.

"THAT WON'T WORK!" The Makai High Noble shouted, swinging with a punch.

"KNUCKLE!"

Brian quickly ducked the attack, his left hand glowing white before smashing into Gregorio's gut. The demon suddenly let loose an inhuman scream, agonizingly loud and high-pitched, as he sailed away from Brian. He rolled on the ground, blood dripping from his side as he rose up and growled.

"Got you." Brian said calmly. "If you couldn't stop that… then I think I understand now."

"Understand what?!?"

"Hey, I don't look it, but I was in college," Brian countered. "You were merely condensing the air. Since the Anti-Necro God Cannon is useless against inorganic materials, which air molecules _are_, you had a simplistic but effective barrier. As for my electric guns… probably just endowed the air with a positive charge to attract the shots."

Gregorio's jaw dropped… had he-

"Wow!" Brian said with a grin, "Talk about taking a shot in the dark there!"

Another punch to the jaw sent Gregorio spinning away… but he would _not_ be humiliated like this! As Brian moved in for the kill, there was a flicker of red in his eyes as he raised his hands.

"ANTI-NECRO KNUCKLE!"

"MORTAL MASHER!"

Just as Brian reached him, fist glowing white, Gregorio struck, palms pointing out to his head. If he felt shock or surprise, Lernan didn't show it.

The attacks hit at the same time, both men screaming and being blowing away, a tremendous amount of dust and smoke being kicked up. Morrigan suddenly heard the other refs talk about calling the match a double-KO. Since Miki was still present and alive, her team would be declared the winner… but Brian would be considered out of it and it would be just her and Blade against three more Makai High Nobles…

"We wait," she said, turning to them. "We wait to see the bodies before making _any_ decisions."

The edge to her voice certainly helped convince them quickly.

They stood together, waiting when slowly two figures, standing face to face only a few feet apart, appeared…

Gregorio and Lernan. They certainly looked completely exhausted… the entire left side of Gregorio's face was soaked with blood, and he was holding his gut while wincing in pain. Brian seemed no better… in fact, probably _worse_. His clothes were in tatters, and both of them looked as if they were about to pass out.

"I think…" Gregorio slowly said, "An alternate means of resolving this might be necessary."

He raised up his hand, a small black sphere forming in it. He placed it on the ground, and Brian looked at it for a moment. He responded by generating a crackling, electric yellow sphere and placing it along side it.

"Fine then… shall we?"

They both nodded, the two sphere melding together as the spectators looked in confusion… what was going on here?

Finally, Gregorio reached down, and pulled up a small revolver, half black, half yellow.

"Russian Roulette. First to die loses both their life and the match," they said in unison to the judges.

* * *

Exhausted from the day's struggles, Simon had thought it wise to go to bed early. He'd also wake up before he normally would, prepare himself mentally and physically. He had absolutely _no_ idea what was going on with Ryu and-

He suddenly felt a soft hand moving across his chest, although they were separated by the blanket he had over him.

"Simon… wake up, dear…"

_That voice_…

His legs kicked up, knocking the figure away as he rolled out of bed, blood going cold at the sight in front of him. Lilith was standing there… but her hair was blonde, her corset white… similar to the coloring of Kirin's and…

Then her voice… and her eyes… grey eyes.

"Simon… you didn't think I'd leave you alone, did you?" Lilith said again, in the same voice as Kirin's.

A/N: Sometimes, you need to lie to your allies to give them the strength to continue. Unfortunately, even the best-laid plans can go to hell when your enemies attack in the dead of night, as Lilith, Lei-Lei, Anita, and Lin-Lin will discover. And Brian is risking quite literally _everything_when he points a gun to his head in Struggles before the End.


	23. Showdown

A/N: It's been a while since I've updated… but we're nearing the end… so it really doesn't matter. Anyways, on with the show!

Brian looked down at the gun in his hand… created by both his and Gregorio's strength. The refs and Miki were looking at him… as was Gregorio as he calmly put the gun to his head and moved to pull the trigger.

"No," the demon spoke, shaking his head. "_I'll_ go first." The reason was obvious, that the odds of the first chamber holding the lethal cargo were only one in six. The odds skyrocketed with each empty chamber fired… and if his luck held for three rounds, the mere sight of Brian looking defeated, about to put the gun to his head knowing he was about to die… would be priceless.

"Sure… your funeral," Brian responded, tossing the gun over to him. Gregorio looked down at it and shrugged, pointed it to his head, and calmly pulled the trigger.

The gun clicked, and he tossed it to Brian. The gunner showed no hesitance in repeating the gesture. Another click, and he tossed it back.

"One in four… things aren't too bad just yet," Gregorio grinned. "I mean… all I need to hear is the click of the gun… like this." He pulled the trigger and stayed standing. "And I know I'm still alive. Otherwise, I'm dead, quick and painlessly. Your turn."

He threw the gun back to Brian, and he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Aensland was approaching Miki.

"Owikamki… what are the odds that-"

Miki shook her head. "If Brian did what I think he already did… then he's already won this. If not… well, then it's a wild card, and we'll see how those two end up acting under pressure…"

Brian tossed the gun back to Gregorio, smiling. "Fifty-fifty now… how does it feel? Knowing that your fate will be determined by something as lowly as the metaphorical coin-flip?"

"Well…" Gregorio replied, "It feels quite… unstressful… _as if someone didn't play by the rules_." He pulled the trigger… another click before throwing it back. Brian's composure suddenly cracked like a piece of cheap glass. "You were expecting something else, weren't you? More like a one in three shot for me… but for you…?"

Brian's mouth went dry as he looked down at the ground, then holding the gun in his hand.

"Aww… little courageous hero's gambit blow up in his face? Boo-hoo," Gregorio continued. "Just think… if you win this, then you kill the greatest womanizer in all of Makai, who is held back only by finding ways to sate his own lust rather than an inability to break any woman to his will… It's really simple too, my methods…

"So pull the goddamn trigger, Mr. Hero… or have you chickened out?"

Gripping the gun, Brian looked up at Gregorio and shook his head. "I…I d-don't know what you're talking about." He pulled the trigger.

* * *

He acted as fast as he could… kicking Lilith away and immediately grabbing his swords… Simon shook his head, unable to believe it. She still looked so much like Lilith… but that voice… eyes similar to his own in regards to color, the once violet hair now blonde, and the red corset dulled to grey as well… 

It was as if Lilith had decided to stop basing her appearance off of Morrigan and was taking notes from Kirin now. "Lilith" just stared at him with a small grin on her face, the half-Syken wondering just how many different groups were caught up in this stupid struggle…

"Long time no see…" Lilith said with a grin on her face that nearly chilled Simon to the bone. "It's been what… a year?"

"Not long enough," Simon responded, deflecting a razor-sharp tendril with his swords, the strand striking a hole through the wall. He pointed his katana at Lilith, gripping it as tight as he could manage. "Answers. Now."

"Lilith" shrugged, her every move meant to be purely patronizing. "I'm a succubus. Or, more precisely, Lilith _was_. Succubae can subsume the souls of their victims… provided they have enough strength…"

"But we-"

"Lilith tragically thought she could destroy my soul forever… but that blew up in her face." she continued. "I just waited until the right moment to make a move. And the results," she grinned, "Where quite pleasant."

"Lilith" swiftly bent to the side as Simon slipped by her, kicking him through the wall of the hut onto the ground. Rolling to his feet as she Lilith stepped out, Simon knew the initiative was the only thing that would let him survive and acted swiftly, striking down with both his rudius and katana. The succubus just stared at the attacks coming, and then the swords were knocked away by a pair of crosses.

_No…_ Simon turned, seeing Anita hunched over a few feet to his right, and before he knew it, there was the tremendous pain as it felt like a claw ripped through his back. He stumbled forwards, falling to his knees in front of Lilith.

"Anita was still a little shocked from the shock of Ryu's new existence… an opening I sorely lacked before. And the hopping corpse?" The white-clad succubus shrugged as Simon barely managed to look around behind him to see Hsien-Ko there, looking just as blank as she pulled her claw out of Simon's back, blood dripping from it. Simon wondered if it was just luck that had kept the girl from hitting something vital. "She's _undead_… no challenge to me. It's over Simon… your death is imminent. You can't escape… give in."

As if god had a twisted sense of humor, it suddenly began to rain, although it may have just been the influence of the manipulative bitch right in front of him. Sighing in defeat, Simon dropped his swords, bowing his head in submission. "Fine. I give up."

Hsien-Ko, Lilith, and Anita were dumbfounded by the declaration, although Lilith worked around it as best she could.

"Calling it quits like that? What could cause the great Champion of Chaos do such a thing?"

"We don't have time for petty actions and bids for power. You know what, Kirin? Kill me or do whatever you want. I'll take the evil I'm familiar with over the one that's the bigger threat."

Without a second's hesitation, Lilith walked towards him. _This is a lot of trouble I wasn't hoping for… a perfectly inopportune moment for someone to lose all will to fight back. Then again, I have to hope he'll snap out of it through instinctual self-preservation._

She stood in front of him, meeting his gaze before slowly speaking. "It's curtains for you, Simon Tyer." She moved to kiss him, the action itself would do nothing, but if Simon didn't actually summon up a fighting spirit soon, he'd catch on. And sometimes, to help someone out, you couldn't afford to let them know what you were doing.

Thankfully, however, the third party in this entire situation had foolishly chosen that moment to intervene.

"LILITH!" Anita shouted as she tackled, knocking the two out of the way as a gigantic scythe cut through the air.

The four turned to see Jedah standing there, leaning sideways with another of his trademark weapon in his hand. Beside him stood the yellow-skinned and black-armored soldier Simon recognized, shocked.

"Arc."

"I find it quite foolish how you fell for that charade," Jedah mused, pointing at Simon. "The girl simply used a few tricks and you fell for them without any solid evidence… isn't that right, Lilith?"

Simon looked back at Lilith, surprised to see her hair and clothing colors… "Is this true?"

"And if it is?" Lilith asked.

"Then wouldn't it mean that you're just a pawn to them, Tyer?" Arc asked, grinning. "A throwaway chip?"

"No way!" Hsien-Ko shouted out. "But if he didn't feel that he had to stand against us no matter what-"

"Lei-Lei… it's fine," Simon answered. "It was pretty obvious from the get-go what was going on."

"Paranoid first and foremost, eh?" Anita mused before they turned back to the duo. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

_Click_. 

The audience was awestruck that the sixth chamber in the gun did not claim Brian Lernan's life. "What… what just happened?" Morrigan asked, confused.

"Isn't it obvious?" Gregorio responded. "The gun simply holds seven chambers. Morrigan, would you be willing to hand the gun to me?"

"Whatever," Brian spat as he threw the gun to him. "Game over for you, though. I mean… the gun has seven rounds, and six are empty. Figure out what's going to happen when you pull the trigger."

Gregorio shrugged as he caught it. "You're absolutely right. Through process of elimination, this chamber holds the bullet." He leveled the gun at Brian's head and smiled. "Die."

"BRIAN!"

As if at peace with the world, Brian turned to see the newly arrived Bulleta, looking on from the very edge of the bleachers… seeing Gregorio pull the trigger.

_Click._

Gregorio was almost instantly beat down by a flurry of tendrils formed by Morrigan, knocking him to the ground as Brian walked over to the gun, picked it up, walked over to Gregorio, and bullet the trigger.

_Bang_.

"Eight chambers in the gun, moron," Brian sighed before walking away.

* * *

"In all honesty… I have no idea which one of you I would prefer battling against…" Jedah mused as he pointed at Anita and Lilith. "My antithesis, or the successor of one of my greatest enemies. Better yet…" 

Anita threw up her guard just as Simon, Lilith, and Lei-Lei were sent flying away from an unseen force, the Light Savior holding her ground. However, she dove away just as Arc slashed down at her. _This isn't good… Jedah can easily just pin me down at leave me open to physical attacks._

The massive sword smashed into the ground again, Anita deftly evading the blow only to hear Jedah speaking behind her.

"Checkmate."

A fist slammed into her back as she was sent flying into the air before blood-red hands sprang up from the ground, dragging her underneath as Jedah vanished.

_Dammit!_ Simon thought as he charged at Arc. "Lilith, Lei-Lei… I'll deal with this! Go after Jedah first are foremost!"

Time was short, and arguing was pointless. Bowing her head down, Lilith called upon every ounce of strength she had, black hands reaching up from below to mirror Jedah's action, and then the two girls were gone as well.

"I see Anya got her teeth into you," Simon grunted as his swords smashed into Arc's.

"Yeah…" the vampirized Cyken responded, "Well it doesn't really matter, does it?" With a furious display of strength, his broadsword slashing upward and sending Simon's blades into the air, where they landed a few dozen meters away. The tremendous blade then fell, slashing Simon across the midsection and leaving a sizable gash before he kicked his opponent away. "And without your weapons-"

"I'll manage," Simon retorted. "My fight against Ryu will deny me my weapons… so I might as well get used to it, right?" Breathing in and out calmly, he spread his legs out twice the distance between his shoulders, bending his knees and slamming his fist into the ground. "To do my part in saving everyone… I will fight you until my last dying breath, if it comes to that."

There was a flash of blue.

Resistance.

And he charged at Arc.

* * *

"Funny…" Jedah remarked as he looked around, the blood draining away into nothingness around him and Anita, the Light Savior levitating on the ground but unconscious. "I assume it must be your doing then…" 

He turned around, seeing Lilith and Lei-Lei standing there.

"I guess it was pretty obvious," Lilith retorted.

Jedah chuckled softly before generating a scythe to do battle with. "And now you feel it's time to stare me down and battle to the death? Only one problem there… _how are you going to actually do the deed?_ I am Makai's spirit, hope for a better tomorrow."

"An idealist, but a twisted one at that," Lei-Lei responded before she and the succubus charged. Jedah slid away from their attack while his weapon's length extended so he could still strike at the two women. Blade struck metal claws, however, as a red tendril wrapped around his ankle, Jedah looking down in shock before he was thrown up into the air, Hsien-Ko wielding his weapon and bringing it down through Jedah's head.

"Easy enough," Lilith remarked as his body fell to the ground, the Aensland walking over to Anita and kneeling down. _She's okay… that's good. Then again, it's not like she wouldn't be able to create some sort of defense or barrier against Jedah's attack and all-_

"GOT YOU!"

Lei-Lei and Lilith turned around as Jedah pulled the scythe out of his skull and immediately threw two smaller sickles at the women, nicking their body and drawing a small amount of blood before Jedah rocketed at them, claw-like hands flicking out and striking both of them.

"You really messed this one up, Aensland," Jedah remarked as the red-clothed girl tried to get up before looking back at the rising Hsien-Ko. With a wave of Jedah's hand, the hopping corpse found her body suddenly being crushed under some arcane force. "Being the spirit and hope of Makai, I really can't be responsible for my own death, wouldn't you think?"

Looking down at Lilith, he reached up towards his neck and pierced it, blood escaping at a high pressure and streaming down at Lilith. Her wings rose up to block the effort, but in the meantime Jedah let his scythe swing upwards, grazing her cheek. The succubus slid away, getting back on her feet and trying to think of a way out.

_Relax…_ Lilith told herself, _You've got the tutelage of a woman who killed Jedah. This can't be impossible._ Raising her hands up, Lilith readied to attack and charged, kicking out as her wings formed a blade at the end of her leg. Jedah slid around the attack, hurling another sickle at her. Lilith abandoned her attack in exchange for defending herself, giving Jedah the opportunity to grab her leg and throw her up in the air.

However, before he had the chance to continue his offensive or even gloat about Lilith's lack of combat experience, he was struck by a ground wave, giving Lilith the opportunity to rocket back down to the ground and emulate one of Morrigan's attacks. Her legs were encased in a drill, managing to leave a noticable gash on Jedah's body before Lilith sprang away from Dohma's retaliatory action.

Looking back, she was surprised to see Lin-Lin standing there… wielding a staff.

"Almost had us, Jedah…" the magician remarked as Jedah scowled at her. "Binding down my sis, but not me… We were saving this 'role reversal' thing for an emergency… and this certainly qualifies."

"Role… reversal?" Lilith asked.

"Yeah. Lei-Lei's right here." She brandished her weapon before charging, Jedah sliding out of the way as he slashed at her. The sorceress blocked the attack just as Lilith's red wings reached out and bound Jedah's arms together. Looking back up in shock, Lin-Lin and Lilith slammed their fists into Jedah's face, sending him skidding backwards. His wings, however, pushed him back up, and Jedah flew at them absurdly fast.

Lilith and Lin-Lin gasped in pain as the Vampire Savior's wings cut into their sides… lucky -or unlucky- that the demon had opted to not deliver mortal injuries and instead just inflict tremendous pain.

"You two never stood a chance," Jedah spat as hands of blood rose up from the ground, grasping and crushing the two women before slamming them into the ground. "After all-"

"After all, it's not their job to kill you, is it?"

Two handheld crosses arced through the air, cutting the arms clean off as another one was barely countered in time by a sickle.

"Earth and Makai can have one of us, but not the other," Anita stated plainly. "Lilith, Lin-Lin… you two alright?"

"Fine…" the two answered as they tried to stand up.

"Forget it," the Light Savior answered. "You've done your part. Just leave this to me." She formed another cross, although time in the design of that of the Roman Catholic church before gripping the longest end and pulling it off, revealing a blade.

"How impressive," Jedah remarked. "But also predictable. You can't beat me with something you just only came up with now."

"Don't push me," Anita answered as she charged and slashed down, Jedah effortlessly moving around the attack and grabbing her from behind. His hands reached up to her neck, ready to draw blood.

"Such a shame… this seems rather… anticlimactic, don't you think?" he asked honestly.

Anita shrugged. "No. I'm thinking about how funny it is that you just forgot that what applies to you applies to me too."

She immediately impaled herself with the sword, Jedah's eyes opening wide in horror before he screamed in pain. Anita, however, didn't even pay attention to the seemingly mortal injury before pulling the blade out, turning around, and cleaving Jedah in two with it.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Anita looked down at Jedah's remains before stepping over them and helping Lilith and Lin-Lin up.

"Well…" she remarked, "That's one less problem out of the way."

* * *

Simon collapsed to his hands and knees as Arc stood above him, grinning in victory. 

"If you keep fighting like this, not even your stupid Excel Drive's gonna do much to help you," the vampire remarked as Simon forced himself back up again. "Hell, if you were to fight Ryu in your current condition, you'd lose so fast it wouldn't even be funny!"

"I'll be fine…" Tyer responded, "Besides, my highly advanced strategy of wearing down your sword with my body has been nothing but a complete success." He launched a Variable Gust-cutter at his opponent, Arc bringing up his broadsword and deflecting the wind-based attacks before being tackled by Simon.

The half-Syken delivered a hard punch to his enemy's face before seeing the broadsword coming up out of the corner of his eye. Simon jumped away, the weapon taking off a few strands of hair before slamming his palm into Arc's wrist.

"GO TO HELL!"

An intense blast of fire sent Arc skidding backwards, knocking up a dustcloud, but the yellow-skinned warrior came back all the same, delivering a brutal two-handed slash. Simon, however, looked up at the attack and threw his forearms up to block it.

Metal smashed into bone, Simon wincing from the pain, but glad he was making some progress…

Because Arc had dropped his weapon, gripping his left wrist and screaming in pain as blood trickled out of it.

"Damage to the wrist is not something to be trifled with," Simon remarked. "That kind of injury, it's not the kind you can laugh off and keep using a massive and heavy blade with. Of course… you could try wielding it one-handed…" Another fierce punch was sent, this time smashing into Arc's face. He staggered back, leering at Tyer before his opponent continued, "But you'd have to actually pick it up again, right?"

"You bastard…" Arc grunted before slowly smirking. "Like this is going to change anything whatsoever…"

He jumped into the air, kicking down and hitting Simon in the face before chopping down with both of his hands, leaving an "x" on Tyer's chest before springing away. Simon only looked down in confusion for a moment before the mark glowed yellow and _exploded_. Simon screamed in pain, struggling backwards a few steps before Arc delivered a painful thrust-kick to his side.

"Magically-empowered flames bypass your normal immunity… so it was easy enough to give you a taste of your own medicine, right?"

"Yeah… well I can still heal myself just as easily…" Simon remarked as he put his hand up to his wounds and summoned a flame for himself… only to scream in shock at the sensation of his hand burning. He willed the flames away, looking at the grinning Arc. "What… what the hell did you just do?"

"Quite a bit… though none of it is permanent. It'll just take a few days to recover from… days you don't have. In short, I've simply created an interesting kind of magical aura around you… any flame will take on magical properties, meaning you won't be able to heal using them."

"Bastard…" Simon growled as Arc charged and sent him flying away with an excruciatingly agonizing strike to the abdomen, knocking him to the ground again.

"Game over for-"

"Holy crap! You're not done with him yet?"

Arc and Simon turned to see Lei-Lei, her sister, Anita, and Lilith all standing there in one piece. At least that meant that Jedah was good and dead now, at the very least beat into submission.

"He… he lost?"

"Well, _yeah_," Lei-Lei answered. "Just like you're about to. And not only that…" Slowly, their surroundings shifted, becoming more desolate and demonic. "Without Jedah to maintain the sub-dimension, we're back in Makai."

"Like I care?" Arc asked. "Are you all going to gang up on me or something?" He walked over to his weapon and picking it up in his right hand. "Because I assure you, I've got more than enough sword to go around."

"Far from it," Lilith spoke up before pointing over to Simon. Arc turned to see his opponent standing there, panting, bloody, and out of breath.

Anita continued. "You've forced him deep into a corner. The further you press any animal, the more dangerous it becomes. That's how things work."

"Yeah…" Simon spoke up in between breaths… "What… they said."

"Well then, let's see how well you bite back then." Arc charged at Simon, bringing his sword down on him. "Time to die!"

Simon screamed out and poured everything he had into charging at Arc, seeing the broadsword coming at him. With one vicious kick, Simon struck the dull side of the blade, knocking it away before slamming his fist into Arc's body. The vampire's eyes were open wide in agony before Simon turned and walked away.

"Variable… Gust-cutter."

Blood splattered everywhere, ripping through Arc's body and leaving him a mess on the ground, barely alive as Simon walked over and picked up his swords and sheathed them before turning back to the quartet of women.

"Lilith… if Anya gets killed, will Arc turn back to normal? You know, how it is in fiction?"

"Maybe," Lilith answered. "Cyken physiology's not something we've run into before, for obvious reasons. So… we don't really know."

"Well, keep him restrained but alive in some corner of the Aensland mansion, will you? Now if you would excuse me…" he collapsed on the ground, "My body's hurting, I've got one bitch of a fight coming up, and I just wanna rest."

"Fair enough, we'll take care of it, Simon," Anita answered.

A/N: Damn, it's been a long time since I worked on this… really. You know that author's note up at the top? _I wrote that like five months ago_. Since then, I've pursued a couple of entirely separate writings, improved my writing skills (I restarted work on this around the second Russain Roulette scene) and even entirely revised the storyline for Simon and company in my original fiction. Not going to change this at all, I'm going to finish it, but don't expect any sequels or anything. Probably two or three chapters left in this, and I'm going to lay it to rest.


	24. The Price of Victory

A/N: Well, I would've updated sooner, but I was off inspiring and moving a bunch of fairy princesses to rip off their wings and surpass themselves. Results so far have been positive. Anyways, it's a lot sooner than the time between the last update and the one before that, right?

(Insert joke about not owning Darkstalkers or Street Fighter here)

"That… was one bitch of a fight…" Miki grunted as she collapsed on her hotel bed, groaning in pain. "And seemed _waaaay_ too long too."

"Well, you, Blade, and Brian have one more fight and it's over," Flare answered. "True, it's against the three remaining Makai nobles, but they probably weren't expecting us to win and therefor we'll have the advantage."

"What about Blade and Lernan?"

"Resting… and you should be too," he said as he knelt down next to her and kissed the woman on the forehead. "Just worry about the actual tournament fight. Let Donovan, Morrigan, me, and the rest deal with the goings-on behind it."

Miki smiled and nodded. "Can do." Aniar stood and walked away, turning off the lights before leaving the room…

Only to see the bitch in the red dress stepping out of Brian's room.

"Bulleta… what are you doing with a notebook?"

The Darkhunter turned to see him standing there and immediately opened the book and showed it to Flare. "Take a look! Specific measurements and bullet sizes so to make an eight-chambered revolver that can-"

"Okay, fair enough. How's it going?"

"Fine," she answered. "Anya's probably fuming after losing her goddamn butler, and with a majority of the Makai nobles out of commission, things could work out there too."

"Going to bring about a 'Golden Age of Makai'?" Flare asked. "Well… at any rate, this means that Jedah shouldn't be any more trouble than he already is…"

"Correction…" a familiar voice announced from behind them. "He's dead, and he's going to _stay_ dead."

"Anita!" The two said in surprise, Bulleta suddenly realizing something. "What happened to you?"

"We got back a few hours ago," the Light Savior sighed. "Jedah had manifested a sub-reality for us to be stuck in. Unfortunately for him, though, he pushed his luck a little bit to far and with a helping hand from Lilith and Lei-Lei… well, let's find everyone and I'll fill them in."

* * *

"So it winds down to this," Donovan mused as he sat with the others, looking at the group assembled. "All of the chips are down… and it looks like we're going to come out ahead."

"There is one problem, though," Lilith sighed. "Simon's condition… he's fine, to an extent, but Anita and I have tried everything we can to dispel the aura around him."

"So no fire healing?" Gallon asked. The Light Savior nodded.

"The spell itself is not terribly hard to break, but just extremely complicated. In short, an easy comparison is like trying to crack a fifty-character long password. You have all the materials to do it and access to every potential character in the password, but it takes time…"

"Anita and I have been subconsciously working through the numerous incantations to dispel the aura," Lilith continued. "We'll most likely be done in seventy-two hours."

"Meaning the odds that Simon'll be back at full power by the time he battles Ryu is going to be pretty damn slim," Bulleta mused.

"Which leads us to a much more important issue," Anita announced. "Ryu… he's not exactly right in the head."

"What's the situation with him? Is he a vampire or has the Satsu no Hadou merely been brought to the forefront again?" Donovan asked.

"It's… complicated," Anita answered. "If it were just a situation like being a vampire, then it would be arguably easier. Speaking of which…" she turned to Flare, who was playing with his trademark black knife.

"Point the direction and we'll bury that problem when we have the time," Flare said with a smirk.

"Thank you," Anita said before continuing. "When Ryu -for lack of a better word- 'broke', I couldn't feel much of anything from him. It's more like he just stopped caring, so to speak."

"He's a disciplined mind, usually level-headed for most cases," Gallon remarked. "I mean, there were those times early on in his martial arts career where… like the first World Warrior tournament, when he was a little inexperienced, but that's been over twenty years ago."

"Well, _here's_ a solution," Bulleta spoke up. "Disciplined and restrained mind… minor amount of understanding in the supernatural, possibly a little more. Gets borderline turned into a vampire… doesn't exactly change, but doesn't entirely resist it. All possible willpower goes in to suppress becoming something he's not, but leaves him as moldable as clay."

"Interesting idea… where'd you get the idea from?" Flare asked.

Bulleta shrugged. "A couple bad _Resident Evil_ fanfics. _You_ got a better explanation?"

"No…"

"It's a start," Anita mused. "This would mean, to an extent, that if we break his focus, he might become a full vampire. And that would be just one Shadow Conversion away from a happy ending."

"Assuming, of course," Donovan responded, "That the ploy will actually work. And if not?"

"Well, we try it, and if it doesn't work," Lilith declared, "We win with the minimum force necessary."

* * *

Jedah was dead. Zabel was dead. Demitri was dead. Gregorio was dead. Arc was captured.

Things could not be possibly better, Anya mused to herself, as she continued playing chess against herself in a darkened room. Playing such a game against oneself was unusual, since both "players" technically were aware of each other's strategies. The only way to really make it interesting is to give yourself a handicap, like removing one side's queen.

Stalemates were disgusting. That's why one side had to have a handicap… but in that handicap, one discovers surprising benefits. With fewer pieces, one runs a much smaller risk of infighting, meaning the pieces won't get in each other's ways.

Second, respect for the remaining pieces would grow. The Queen was a powerful piece on its own, but a proper usage of the Rook and Bishop counter-balanced the fact each one only had half of the Queen's abilities. If positioned properly, they could easily out-maneuver even the previously mentioned piece. The Knight also had the benefit of following an entirely separate set of rules. While its movement range was tragically short, it could break through barriers and be a free spirit, so to speak. And pawns could become anything they pleased, if protected and used to their fullest potential.

"Checkmate," she declared to herself, capturing the black king at last. The game had been long, and had cost her much. Outside interference had enabled her to more precisely arrange her pieces, and receive a knight, Jedah Dohma.

Said Knight had found aid in a previously acquired Rook, Arc, and then pushed his abilities to their extent, creating an environment to nurture a certain pawn, Ryu. In the meantime, her de-facto Queen, Raptor, strung along the opposition until the correct time and place, and tragically died.

It didn't matter though, because it is impossible to win a game of chess without losing at least one piece. Amateurs often believe taking away their opponent's pieces, one by one, is a sign that they are winning, just as Anita, Morrigan, and the others thought as well.

But they still faced four pawns. Four pawns that had long since reached the final side of the board. Kirin made three of them years ago, revealing herself and her powers to the remaining Makai nobles, and she had made last.

And in only a few hours, she would again have her foes in checkmate.

* * *

Morning. Morning, and he hadn't slept well the night before.

Simon stood up, noting he was again in the Aensland mansion. At least it looked like he'd been the only one to sleep in the bed he'd been in too.s, I

There was a knock at the door, and he turned to see Blade walk in, the brown-haired girl looking as if she had slept marginally better. "Hey there… how's it going?"

"Fine, Blade," he answered. "One hell of a week, though. I'm halfway glad, though. After this, we can go back home."

"Yeah, that's certainly the case. You worried?"

"To an extent… thanks to Lilith and the others, I'm about as strong as I can possibly be, offense-wise. But because of Arc, I'm not going to be able to keep burning myself back to full strength. My fight… I'll have to fight conservatively. I go too hard and too fast, and I'm dead."

"Don't worry about it… we all talked and we have a plan."

"What?" He shook his head, confused. "What do you mean, a 'plan'?"

"Bulleta came up with a plan, not exactly fantastic, but it's something. In short, you need to shock his system… somehow you need to make him crack under the pressure."

"And how am I going to possibly going to do that?" Simon answered. "Not like I'm a master of psychological torture or anything…"

"Well, push comes to shove, you need to frustrate him," Blade answered. "The others got Ken to a hospital, and although he wasn't exactly fine, we were able to talk to him. If Ryu's subconsciously trying to suppress his vampire nature, then you gotta get him frustrated. Don't give up against him and show him your will surpasses his strength, okay?"

"No problem. Not knowing when to die's in my blood. Watch yourself out there too, you hear?"

The woman nodded. "I will. Take care of yourself too." After a moment she nodded her head and walked away. There was no need to say farewell, because they both knew they'd see each other after this as well.

* * *

There comes a point in which any animal is aware that a storm is approaching. Even humans, to an extent. The aura of ultimate doom surrounding the Severed Swordsman tournament certainly counted as such, and was the reason there was zero audience turnout as six figures stepped into it for the finale of the team battle.

One dragon, one brown-clad gunman, one demonic collector, one somber assassin, one scholar, and one oracle.

Over two weeks of struggle had led to this final battle in the team brackets, and Brian Lernan, Blade, Longfellow, and Miki Owikamki stared down Xell Kreutz, Taurus Drey, and Sierra do Gilam. And off to the side, hesitant to get any closer to those that would likely snuff him out of existence in a moment.

"So it comes down to this, girl," Sierra suddenly announced, pointing at Blade. "These are the last fleeting moments for you and this stupid team of yours. You are all going to die, and the validity of our power over Alcemia will be quite established."

"The opposite is certainly true as well," Blade responded with a smirk. "If you die, then Morrigan can simply step in and annex your assets. Hell, she's done it to all the other nobles, so what's three more?"

"Not going to happen," Taurus suddenly announced, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small coin, rather unimpressive and plain in every possible way. "In fact…" he flipped it up into the air, letting it spin before catching it. "We've already won."

When one is involved in numerous fights, they come to realize that when the opponent makes a very arrogant yet confusing statement, they are either expecting you to charge in recklessly or stand around confused. Either way, the intended victims are then obliterated by some arcane, unstoppable power.

Hence, the trio of Team Guns & Roses took a third option, immediately dodging in random directions. It didn't do any good though, as their surroundings suddenly darkened, and they found the others fading away.

_What the hell?!?_ Miki thought as she found herself in a dark and dreary wasteland, easily surpassing Makai in its unnatural layout. "What did… how did…"

"Jedah Dohma certainly played an effective role, even if he did have to die in the end. Then again, most idealists do fail in their goals only to further those of others."

The voice belonged to Taurus, the demon suddenly appearing in front of Miki, arrogantly displaying a suit of finest gold armor and a sword.

"Although these may not be on the level of Hannya and Kien," he continued before charging. Miki dove to the side, but it was too late and a red stain grew on the left side of her outfit. "… They certainly are capable. Wouldn't you think, Owikamki?"

"You… bastard…" Miki spat as she forced herself up on her feet. "What the hell is going on?"

Taurus laughed joyously as he pointed his weapon at Owikamki. "Jedah's subdimension… _it never collapsed_. We just sent Tyer and the others away, leaving it deserted and the perfect place to finally put you three away in."

"And since nobody is here to enforce the rules," Miki remarked, quickly understanding what was happening, "You can use as many weapons as you want, correct?"

Taurus chuckled as he charged. "Sharp on the uptake, Owikamki! Not like it changes the outcome in any way, shape or form, though!" His weapon slashed down, Miki's obsidian wrist blades moving up to counter… just before they smashed through them. Miki tried to slow her perception of time, realizing that she was about to lose her arms… but nothing happened.

Screams permeated the battlefield as blood fell on the ground, Miki stumbling away, panting for breath as she looked at her arms… Drey infuriated with her luck.

"Take… take that…" Miki weakly chuckled as she hunched over, wincing from the pain as blood trickled from her wrists. "Smashing through my blades still cost you momentum." _Unfortunately_, she continued to herself, _Nothing more than chance saved me there. I could've been disarmed and in a seriously bad position… worse than I already am in_. _And I couldn't Chrono-bend here! Dammit… if this is a parallel reality, Jedah must've made some substitute for gravity… it wouldn't be above him, since he knew about my abilities._

The Darkinarki slowly circled Taurus, at the same time increasing the distance between them. As bad as her hands felt, they'd be okay in a bit. In the meantime, the rest of her body was just fine, and she could still attack with her elbows and let them absorb the shock so as to not stress her forearms.

"You're about to die." Taurus suddenly spoke up, and Miki immediately realized that the man had simply been standing there the whole time, not bothering to continue watching her. The ground below her suddenly glowed white, Miki rolling away from it only to discover another patch of luminescence below her.

_SHIT!_ She didn't have time to evade, and white darts of energy shot up into her body painfully, Miki doing everything she could to keep her arms from taking any more damage. The force of the attack, a perfectly laden trap, sent Miki flying into the air, her eyes wide in horror as she collapsed onto the ground.

"Game over."

* * *

"GO TO HELL!" Brian screamed out as he pointed at the looming, draconian form of Xell Kreutz, a white beam of energy surging out at his enemy. The Anti-Necro God Cannon pierced a thin hole in the demon's left wing, but the monstrosity charged and tackled him. Before Xell could follow-through with a mauling, though, he was forced off the gunner, who rolled forward and tried to catch his breath.

The son of a bitch was hard to keep up with, something Brian found utterly amazing. Most of his guns had proven barely effective, even armor-piercing shots proved incapable of piercing the demon's scales.

"It will shake Alcemia to its core to lose such a fighter as yourself," Xell slowly remarked as flames began to emanate form his nostrils and mouth. "But unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about it!" The monster charged again, clawing at Lernan. The gunman dodged to the side, only to see out of the corner of his eye that Xell's razor-sharp tail was about to decapitate him. Deflecting it with a spin kick, he suddenly found himself staring straight at the great dragon, his mouth open wide and a blazing fire beyond imagination coming right at him.

Brian winced as he raised her arms to waist-level, his weapon of choice emerging from them. The Anti-Necro God Cannon was negating on contact with inorganic matter, and most of his other attacks wouldn't have the "crowd control" factor to dispel the attack so close.

But Xell had just lost, because as stories about dragons told us, whereas their outer bodies were harder than diamonds, their insides were much softer.

"LIGHTNING SCATTER!"

The electrically-charged shotgun blast banished Xell's flames from existence before smashing into his mouth, Kreutz howling in agony as he was sent flying backwards onto the ground. Brian looked at him for a moment, the great demon's eyes slowly closing, his breathing fading away.

Sighing in relief, Brian looked around his twilight-esque surroundings. He knew where he was, poor dead Xell had blabbed about all of that to him quite thoroughly. That meant that somewhere nearby, Miki and Blade were possibly fighting for their lives, and he had to find them so they could figure a way out of this all.

He started walking, but froze when he heard an arrogant voice behind him, dripping with bloodlust.

"VICTORY IS MINE!!"

He spun around, seeing Xell coming at him. Fast. Too fast to stop. Two claws and a wicked tail delivered profound judgement as Brian arced his body back, coughing out blood and unable to even scream as Xell laughed.

"Clever. Very clever. But you made a single mistake, Lernan. I am not _just_ a dragon. I am a noble of Makai, wielding power beyond your wildest imagination. Not only that, I am aware of foolish ventures attempted by wayward demon hunters, to 'attack the inside of the mouth'. There is no weak point on my body you could ever hope to strike!"

Coughing weakly, Brian couldn't help but smile a little bit. "Optimistic... Very optimistic… So maybe the inside of your mouth is no softer than outside your body. That's plausible…"

"Enough talk," Xell snapped as he beat his wings. "Time to di-" He suddenly hit a point where something tugged him back down to the ground, Xell having not predicted it and not flapped his wings fast enough to escape as he crashed into the ground. "What… why did-"

"_Because…_" Brian growled as Xell turned to face him, seeing a bloody Lernan returning his gaze before pointing at the ground. "_I stepped on your tail._" He charged, jumping over Xell's head as the demon snapped his teeth at him, punching into the dragon's right eye. It probably did very little other than bother him, but it was part of the plan. Xell thrashed left and right, his tail already rising and about to impale Brian. The naïve warrior would've held some hope of dodging the attack at the last possible second and tricking the monster into impaling itself. That was out of the question.

Brian still dodged at the last second, but by jumping over the tail and immediately sticking the Lightning Sniper right next to it. The tail had been flexed, it was stressed. If there was _any_ chance of piercing it, now was the time. Brian prayed to every god he had ever read about and pulled the trigger.

The electric blast struck through the hardened scales, being point-blank helping transfer the maximum force possible into its target. Xell screeched in pain as Lernan sprinted back in front of the monster, dodging claw swipes and streams of fire all the while before getting in front of him and jamming the Lightning Sniper down his throat.

"Your mouth might be bulletproof… but what about your stomach?"

Running on pure adrenaline, Brian knew that if this plan failed, he'd be out of steam and be ripped to shreds. That being said, he might as well give it a shot. And shoot he did.

The gamble paid off. Xell's eyes snapped open wide, and Brian decided to not push his luck. He generated his Lightning Magnum, slammed the barrel into Xell's left eye and let six rounds fire, blood streaming from the demon before long.

Before deciding to search for the others, Brian opted to force open his right eye and give him another six shots there too.

* * *

"Seems somebody is a complete idiot when it comes to intellectual battles," Sierra cackled as Blade was trapped on the ground, staked down by a multitude of bone stakes. "Some goddess _you_ are!"

"It's a _figurehead_ title, dammit…" Blade growled as she forced her body to push itself up over the stakes and eventually pull herself free. "I can go all day if the need arises."

"Ah… your stupid undead status with your heart not beating?" Sierra responded as she charged. "Even the undead can be slain with enough blunt force trauma!" She held her hand out as darkness flowed all over it, almost becoming something of a scarf, swiftly wrapping around Blade's head as Sierra readied another bone weapon, in this case a tremendously large club. "AND NOW YOU DIE!" She struck down, but suddenly yelped in surprises as Blade grabbed the scarf and tugged on it before kicking up, breaking the weapon and connecting with Sierra's head.

"Instinct can trump intelligence," Blade remarked, pulling away the veil and pointing at her opponent. "I don't care how well-versed you are in magic; the mind will always fail when the body is weak." She cracked her knuckles and neck before charging. "Go to hell, bitch!"

Sierra smirked as Blade struck at her, deftly evading each blow. "The body failing?" she asked. "You can't possibly dictate to me about ideas such as that. I have existed for centuries, you think I don't understand the values of a strong body along with a strong mind?" Sierra deflected a roundhouse away before elbowing the brown-haired woman in the face and slamming her hands into her abdomen. "CROSS SMASHER!"

A spiraling beam of black and blue sent Blade flying away into the air before an inverted cross pounded her into the ground, leaving a deep crater. She slowly rose back up again, gasping for air at first, but working through the pain.

"Impressive, but only in terms of your ability to withstand injuries. Can you do anything other than that?"

Blade scowled at her, staggering over to the bone stakes and pulling a pair out of the ground, testing their weight. Turning to Sierra she spat on the ground. "Thanks for the impromptu swords. I almost felt naked without them."

"Those?" Sierra retorted, "You're going to use the very objects that reduced you to Swiss cheese?"

"Why not?" A burst of fire descended from the air, Sierra dispelling it with a wave of her hand… before looking down and seeing Blade charge at her again. The stakes moved quickly, although Sierra continued to effortlessly evade each technique.

"You're just trying the same thing over again. Didn't work before, did it?" Sierra taunted before slamming her hands again into Blade's stomach. "AND THIS TIME, DIE! CROSS-"

Dust painfully struck into her eyes, Sierra wincing and stepping backwards in shock. _What… how did she… the ground's not loose enough to-_

As if knowing what Sierra was thinking, Blade answered simply. "The stakes. While I was striking you, I was also tearing up the ground… simple, yet you fell for it." The stakes struck again, impaling Sierra's hands and pinning her to the ground as Blade walked away. "And just think… I beat you with only one spell. Earth Pillar."

The ground directly underneath Sierra's body suddenly rocketed into the air, yet the demon screamed in agony as blood burst from her arms, the stakes holding her down, if only for a few moments.

Finally, the stress of the rising pillar grew to be too much. Her arms were ripped clean off, and Sierra screamed as she received a cruel and painful death.

* * *

Coughing up blood, Miki was surprised she was still alive as she forced herself back on her legs again, Taurus only able to stare at her in surprise.

"You survived. Amazing."

Miki stood weakly, glaring at Taurus as her arms dangled uselessly. "You son of a bitch. I am going to kill you, no matter what."

"And how are you going to possibly do that? You're alive… but barely. You should be in a hospital, Owikamki." He turned to the horizon, chuckling. "You know what? My associates are probably dead by now, Blade and Brian exhausted from the battles but still capable of fighting."

"What's the point of all that?" Miki asked before suddenly, everything clicked. "You dirty bastard… _you made our surroundings into the proverbial minefield, didn't you?!?_"

"You're on the ball today, Owikamki!" Taurus patronized. "You barely survived _one_, and in that situation you were still fairly fresh."

Coughing up blood, Miki realized how bad the situation was… but also understood something else too. "A nice plan… but what happens to your elaborate traps if I kill you?"

"In all honesty…" Taurus answered, "They'd fade away. Of course, one more stroke of my sword, and you're dead."

Miki smirked. "Fine. But you'll have to make good on your threats." _I can't move from this position. I need every ounce of strength left in my body to even make a mediocre attack now…_

Taurus charged, golden armor and weapon flashing and attacking with blinding speed. Roaring out, Miki clenched her bloody right arm and bent her body back.

"SINGULARITY…" Flinging almost her entire body forward, fist lashing out uncontrollably yet managing to connect with Drey's armor a fraction of a second before he would've cut her in half. Miki screamed in agony as blood burst from her arm, the entire appendage all but bursting off her form in a disgusting and gory shower. She could only look in horror as Taurus followed through with his attack.

There was the sound of metal breaking as Taurus suddenly saw the blade of his weapon flying up in the air, Miki smiling as she began collapsing forward, grabbing at it almost lethargically.

"Compromised… your weapon's strength too, Drey." Miki announced before plunging it into Drey's head and falling on the ground.

"… Well, _shit._ I've been to hell and back, and all I got was memories of wrecking my arm."

A/N: WHOO! I got a lot done in this chapter. Okay, it's one page and 1200 words longer than others, but who's complaining? One more, and the story will finally come to a conclusion and I can take care of other projects. And as a side-note, I seem to like the idea of a female character losing their right arm.


	25. In which I alienate my fleeting fanbase

I need to get this off my chest. I apologize if this offends anyone or makes them decide to alienate me.

Near the beginning of this year, I decided to try my hand at making an unconventional Magic Girl story. The end result was Matei Mizuki, a story I look back on proudly. It was my first foray into making a first-person narrative in ten years and I think I did rather nicely on it. During work on it, I decided to expand it into a trilogy, and am currently working on the second piece. Overall, I couldn't be more pleased with the concepts I have drafted up.

What am I am upset with is my lack of feedback, and overall viewership. I know not every story is everyone's cup of tea, and what really burns me is the fact it is most likely something I myself am doing wrong. It burns me because there are dozens of terrible authors out there, both professional and amateur, who shovel out trite drivel and become Internet celebrities, if only for people voicing their utter hatred for them. I won't name names, because this is a subjective issue. A very subjective issue.

There are authors out there, many on this very website, who make stories that can be touching and beautiful, with nary a clunky plot sequence abound. I know they exist, because I have read them. In spite of it, nobody seems to notice, to say absolutely nothing about voicing their opinions.

We amateur authors are not perfect. Far from it. I look back on many of my own works with utter disgust. But there are others that I do love, which I want to take all the way to their thrilling conclusion with likeable characters and a cohesive plot. I want to get better, the absolute peak of my abilities. I'll never hit that point if I don't get some modest-sized feedback; things about my story they like or don't like, things that make them look at the world in different ways, etc.

Maybe I'm taking this too far. It's possible.

So I am going to invest much of my energy into trying to find the big, dirty, fucking problem with my Dichotomy Trilogy that keeps it from hooking an audience. It's gotta be a problem on my end… after all, the only thing any of you do is read. I don't know what it is… apparently it's a big, dirty, invisible fucking problem for me.

For those of you reading, I am not encouraging you to read my works on fictionpress. As I said before, they might not be your cup of tea. But I urge you to go out there on this website, find stories that truly do move you and are beautiful, and yet the silent majority has passed over for one reason or another. You owe it to these people, who have the courage to continue writing these stories without any approval and praise from their peers.

And for those of you of that silent majority, who merely read and never speak, who never voice either approval or disapproval... You can all fuck off.


End file.
